^RESEARCHES  ON  AMERICA; 


BEINf; 


AN  ATTEMPT  TO  SETTLE  SOME  POINTS 


RELATIVE  TO  THE 


ABORIGINES  OF  AMERICA, 


JtY  JAMES  If.  M'CULLOff,  JUM  M  1). 


Baltimore : 

PUBLISHED  BY  JOSEPH  ROBINSON 
1817. 


.    > 


>-- 


u 


X 


117458 


TO  THE 


ASIATICS:  SOCIETY  OF  BENGAL 


1  HE  author  of  the  following  sheets  begs  leave  to 
dedicate  the  first  fruits  of  literary  labours  and  early 
life  to  the  very  respectable  society  of  gentlemen, 
whose  careful  and  extensive  researches  into  the  his 
tory  and  monuments  of  the  eldest  nations  known  on 
earth,  have  given  him  so  much  satisfaction  and  such 
assistance  in  the  solitary  path  he  has  taken.  But 
placed  at  the  distance  of  half  the  globe,  and  under  se 
veral  disadvantages,  his  obscure  offering  may  never 
reach  them.  It  is  his  hope,  that  others  pursuing  the 
same  course  of  inquiry  and  disquisition,  as  well  as 
the  scientifick  world  at  large,  may  pay  them  a  wor 
thier  tribute;  that  they  may  enjoy  the  high  gratifica 
tion  of  having  largely  contributed  to  the  stock  of  hu- 


DEDICATION. 

man  knowledge,  and  drawn  from  the  rubbish  of  ages, 
memorials  and  proofs  illustrative  of  human  existence, 
connexion  and  progress,  which  at  once  bid,  as  it  were, 
light  to  be  on  the  chaos  of  periods  past,  and  shine  to 
those  to  come.  The  philosopher,  the  historian,  and 
naturalist,  must  subscribe,  with  the  present  author, 
their  grateful  acknowledgments  to  the  distinguished 
association,  whose  intelligence  and  labours  have  ef 
fected  such  important,  pleasing  and  impressive  dis 
coveries. 

BALTIMORE,  Oct.  15,  1817. 


PREFACE. 


As- the  first  edition  of  this  work  was  printed 
with  many  inaccuracies,  and  under  several 
disadvantages,  it  appears  proper  that  the 
author  should  here  state,  the  causes  of  the 
defects  in  that  impression. 

The  principal  part  of  this  essay  was  writ 
ten  previous  to  the  year  1813;  under  the 
disadvantages  of  youth,  occupation,  and  a 
limited  library.  The  war  that  followed  put 
a  complete  stop  to  further  study  ;  and  the 
author  holding  a  commission  in  the  army, 
was  ordered  on  to  the  frontiers  ;  while  thus 
absent,  he  permitted  his  imperfectly  arrang 
ed  notes,  and  crude  materials  of  an  essay 
to  be  printed ;  and  which  he  had  not  seen 
for  nearly  two  years. — Under  these  unfa 
vourable  auspices,  was  the  first  edition  print 
ed,  containing  many  errours,  many  in 
advertencies,  and  in  some  instances,  appear- 


Vi  PREFACE. 

ing  to  express  opinions  the  very  opposite  to 
what  was  intended. 

A  year  of  greater  leisure,  has,  however,  en 
abled  the  author  to  revise,  correct,  and  add 
certain  facts  and  considerations,  esteemed  im 
portant  to  his  first  work,  and  to  endeavour 
to  put  it  in  a  more  systematick  shape. — All 
these  circumstances,  however,  can  scarcely 
justify  the  quickness  of  a  second  edition,  but 
as  the  author  has  adopted  a  plan  of  life  in 
compatible  with  reading,  or  study ;  and 
which,  if  it  ever  admits  of  literary  leisure, 
will  be  after  the  lapse  of  many  years  ;  he  is, 
therefore,  induced  to  think  himself  better 
qualified  to  print  this  essay  at  the  present 
time,  when  his  mind  is  impressed  with  the 
consideration  of  the  subject,  than  is  probable 
would  be  the  case  at  any  future  period. 

Influenced  by  these  views,  and  with  the 
hope  that  the  principal  part  of  this  essay 
may  be  deserving  the  reflection  and  atten 
tion  of  the  philosopher,  the  antiquarian,  and 
the  naturalist,  the  author  offers  this  correct 
ed  edition,  and  retires. 

So  much  has  been  written  on  the  origin 
of  the  American  Indians,  that  it  is  scarcely 
possible  for  an  opinion  to  be  now  given, 
which  would  not,  in  some  manner  or  other, 


PREFACE.  VII 

have  coincidences  with  some  preceding  hy 
pothesis.  This  has  often  been  experienced  by 
the  author  of  this  essay  ;  and  sometimes  with 
chagrin,  for,  after  believing  himself  the  ori 
ginal  framer  of  certain  opinions,  he  has  af 
terwards  found,  that  the  same  idea  had  been 
promulgated  many  years  ago  ;  and  perhaps 
there  may  be  other  opinions,  advanced  in 
this  work,  that  are  similarly  situated.  How 
ever,  as  far  as  possible,  I  have  done  justice 
to  every  writer  I  have  met  with. 

The  common  method  of  tracing  a  nation 
or  people  by  means  of  etymological  inquiries, 
appears  defective;  and,  in  thus  venturing  to 
dissent  from  great  authorities,  it  may  be 
proper  that  I  should  justify  myself,  for  not 
making  any  use  of  etymology  in  this  essay. 

It  cannot  be  doubted,  if  inquiries  could  be 
made  by  a  philologist  himself,  among  the 
different  nations  of  the  globe,  that  such  a 
procedure  would  be  highly  important  ;but 
this  plan  cannot  or  has  not  been  followed. 
Navigators  and  curious  travellers,  have  made 
vocabularies  of  the  languages  of  the  different 
people  they  may  have  seen  or  visited  :  this 
has  been  done  by  the  English,  French,  Ger 
mans,  Dutch,  Spanish.  Portuguese,  &c. 
&c.— A  writer,  in  making  etymological  i 


Vili  PREFACE. 

quiries,  then  takes  the  vocabularies  formed  by 
the  travellers  of  different  nations  ;  and  un 
dertakes  to  compare  them  as  they  are  wrote, 
unconscious  of*  the  confusion  that  has  been 
made  by  the  collectors,  in  labials, — dentals, — 
or  of  words  or  sounds,  compounded  of  conso 
nants,  and  such  that  an  European  cannot 
pronounce. 

This  source  of  errour  which  the  etymolo 
gist  is  liable  to,  cannot  be  guarded  against  but 
by  a  critical  knowledge  of  many  European 
languages.  For  example— the  French  have 
no  W  in  their  alphabet; — now,  had  Dr.  Bar 
ton  been  aware  of  this,  he  would  not  have 
made  the  mistake  which  he  has  done  in  his 
notes  on  Pinkerton's  Geography;  where  he 
says  ;— The  Lake  known  in  Canada  by  the 
Anglo-Americans,  by  the  name  of  Winne- 
pt'ck,  is  called  by  the  French  Ouinipeque  ; 
now,  though  these  words  are  thus  differently 
written,  they  are  pronounced  exactly  alike  ; 
for  the  French,  to  imitate  our  W,  have  to  use 
the  three  letters  o,  u,  i; — which  answers  the 
purpose  effectually  ; — thus,  the  French 
affirmative  yes,  is  wrote  oui ;  but  is  pro 
nounced 'We 

Again  ; — where  a  language  is  but  imper 
fectly  understood,  collectors  of  words  often 


PREFACE.  IX 

mistake— by  giving  the  adjective  along  with 
the  noun  ;  thus — a  stone  or  rock  being  pre 
sented  to  a  savage  for  the  name ;  he  may 
answer,  it  is  true,  that  it  is  a  rock  or 
stone, — but  there  are  much  greater  chances 
for  his  calling  it,— a  holy  stone,  if  he  made 
his  gods  of  it,— he  might  say  it  was,  hatch 
et  stone,  or  spear  stone,  if  he  made  those 
weapons  of  it ;  and  twenty  different  ways  of 
answering  the  question,  and  none  the  direct 
one  : — and  this  no  doubt  is  the  cause  why 
savages  are  stated  to  have  such  long  words. 

And  savages,  when  asked  a  question,  also 
may  misunderstand  the  nature  of  it.  Cap 
tain  Cook  asked  a  New-Zealander,  the  name 
of  one  of  the  neighbouring  islands,  as  is 
probably  by  pointing  to  it ;  the  native  re 
plied,  Tavi  Poenamono, — which  means,  Jade, 
a  stone  of  which  their  hatchets  were  made, 
and  a  Lake  ;  and  by  those  two  words  he  sig 
nified,  that  there  was  a  lake  in  that  island 
whence  they  procured  jade  : — but  captain 
Cook  understood  him  that  the  island  was 
known  by  that  name ;  this  mistake  he  after 
wards  discovered  and  acknowledged,  in  the 
account  of  his  Third  Voyage. 

Another  source  of  errour  in  forming  vo- 

o 

cubularies  is  from  having  a  defective  ear  ; — 


X  PREFACE. 

and  this  has  frequently  been  asserted  to  have 
been  the  case  of  captain  Cook. — Baron 
Humbolt  observes ;  "  We  cannot  con 
ceive  by  what  misconception,  the  illustrious 
Cook  could  convert  the  name  of  Yucuatl 
into  Nootka  ; — this  last  word  being  unknown 
to  the  natives  of  the  country,  and  having 
no  analogy  to  any  of  the  words  of  their  lan 
guage  excepting  Noutchi  ; — which  signifies 
a  mountain." 

[See  Polit.  Essay,  II.  256.] 

These  impediments  to  the  formation  of 
vocabularies,  affect  the  remaining  labours  of 
the  etymologist ;  and,  as  might  be  well  expect 
ed,— that  setting  out  with  wrong  premises, 
their  conclusions  must  be  either  false  or  im 
perfect. 

I  shall  say  nothing  of  the  confusion  intro 
duced  by  etymologists  themselves,  such  as 
substituting  one  consonant,  or  vowel,  for 
another ;  by  which  means  any  thing  may 
be  proved  or  disproved  according  to  their 
own  hypothesis. 

The  incapacity  of  etymology  to  shew  the 
origin  of  the  American  Indians,  cannot  be 
doubted,  when  we  examine  THE  NEW  VIEWS 
of  Dr.  Barton  ;  and  to  which  I  refer.  This 
ingenious  physician  has  taken  fifty-four 


PREFACE.  XI 

words  of  the  most  common  use  ;  such  as  fa 
ther,  mother,  hand,  head,  &c.  and  collat 
ed  the  American  Indian  with  no  less  than 
eighty  different  languages  or  dialects  of  Asia 
and  Europe  ; — and  besides,  he  introduces  the 
languages  of  the  islanders  of  the  Pacific  ;— 
The  Yolofs,  (one  of  the  blackest  nations  in 
Africa ;)  the  Celtic,  the  Hebrew,  Chaldeac, 
Syriac,  Arabic,  &c  ;  as  also  containing  ana 
logies  or  affinities  to  the  Lenni-Lenappi, 
or  Delaware  Indians, — thus  the  mind,  in 
stead  of  coming  to  any  conclusion,  is  lost,  as 
is  well  observed  by  the  Cyclopedia,  in  an 
endless  labyrinth  of  conjecture. 

From  this  exhibition  of  the  subject  it  will 
be  seen,  that  etymology  offers  little  or  no 
help  in  investigating  the  origin  of  the  Ame 
rican  Indians,  arid  we  must  therefore  have  re 
course  to  other  means  that  appear  more  aus 
picious  ; — This  we  have  done  : — how  far  the 
attempt  may  be  successful,  must  be  hereaf 
ter  determined. 

I  have  not  thought  it  necessary  to  examine 
the  opinion,  which  supposes  two  or  more 
different  creations  of  men  or  animals.  The 
best  naturalists  have  agreed  in  the  identity  of 
the  human  race,  and  that  animals  have  des 
cended  in  like  manner,  from  certain  original 


Xll  FREFACE. 

pairs  ;  these  observations  concurring  with 
the  Pentateuch,  should  be  considered  con 
clusive. 

It  seems  to  be  of  little  use  to  enlarge  upon 
the  importance  of  the  subject,  I  have  under 
taken  to  write  on  ;— every  thing  connected 
with  the  history  of  man  attracts  our  sensibili 
ty  ;  and  as  men  look  forward  to  remembrance 
after  their  departure  from  earth,  and  cannot 
separate  the  idea  of  still  existing,  from  their 
present  consciousness,  so  we  are  also  looking 
backward  to  the  former  races  of  living  men, 
the  possessors  of  the  same  earth  in  which  we 
find  ourselves,  and  who  we  feel  must  have 
been  actuated  by  like  views,  desires,  fears,  and 
subject  to  all  the  changes,  casualties,  joys 
and  misfortunes,  which  are  in  the  picture 
of  the  world  before  us  at  present.  This 
interest  is  manifested  in  all  the  inquiries 
which  men  have  incessantly  directed  towards 
their  progenitors ;  and  in  the  memorials  of 
every  kind,  which  they  have  attempted  to 
set  up  and  preserve.  The  common  mortali 
ty  to  which  all  generations  are  subject,  adds 
a  peculiar  feeling  and  tenderness  to  the  in 
terest  universally  felt ;  when  we  inquire  for 
those  who  have  been,  and  no  longer  are. 
We  look  back  for  the  traces  of  their  being, 


PREFACE.  Xlll 

with  a  pleasing  pensive  desire  to  know  more 
of  them  ; — a  desire  which  is  not  quashed  ; 
but  rather  grows  under  the  difficulty  of  car 
rying  on  the  inquiry,  through  the  accumu 
lation  of  years  and  ages. 

Whoever  attempts  to  trace  the  steps  by 
which  a  people  have  risen  from  obscurity  to 
notice  among  the  nations  of  the  earth,  will, 
says  the  ingenious  and  learned  Robertson, 
"be  disappointed."  The  truth  of  this  ob 
servation  is  strikingly  evinced  by  the  testi 
monies  of  the  several  writers  of  history,  both 
in  ancient  and  modern  times,  whose  unsatis 
factory  labours  have  been  ever  accompanied 
with  complaints  of  this  great  obscurity.  Some 
ages  have  passed  away  without  any  records 
of  them ;  and  the  history  of  ensuing  years 
have  for  a  length  of  time  to  depend  only  on 
oral  traditions ;  and  these  are  so  generally 
blended  with  fiction,  that  writers  aiming  at 
the  accuracy  of  truth,  are  obliged  to  give  up 
the  distant  pursuit,  or  suffer  the  relation  to 
stand  on  the  doubtful  support  of  theoretical 
conjecture.  But  though  the  obscurity  which 
at  once  excites  and  opposes  the  inquiry, 
hangs,  like  an  immovable  cloud,  upon  the 
eldest  times  of  nations,  yet  it  is  capable  of 
some  enlightening  from  the  reflection  of  cir- 


Xl\T  PREFACE. 

cumstances,  incidents  and  narrations,  coinci 
dent  and  coeval,  that  from  one  side  or  the 
other  break  into  the  darkness.  The  collec 
tion,  arrangement  and  exposition  of  these 
become  the  object  of  inquisitive  persons, 
and  facilitate  the  acquisition  of  such  know 
ledge  as  is  desired  upon  the  subject. 

The  inspired  writings  give  us  the  first  ac 
counts  of  the  original  formation  of  nations ; 
they  are  the  most  ancient,  and  surely  the 
most  accurate  of  histories.  But  in  them  no 
more  is  given  than  is  barely  sufficient  to  in 
form  us  of  the  beginning  and  state  of  man  ; 
and  to  illustrate  that,  is  the  theological  part 
of  the  volume.  Brief,  and  strikingly  con 
cise,  they  seem  to  impart  knowledge  without 
gratifying  a  curiosity  perhaps  insatiable.  Yet 
this  must  be  our  greatest  and  surest  refer 
ence.  Whatever  profane  history  gives  forth 
in  fuller  detail,  is  derived  to  us  through  one 
principal  channel.  Chaldea,  Phoenecia  and 
Egypt  scarcely  speak  for  themselves,  but 
have  delivered  up  what  remains  of  their  an 
tique  archives  to  the  inquisitive  and  commu 
nicative  Grecians.  But  among  the  fragments 
they  have  collected  from  the  first  formed  em 
pires,  what  a  chasm  appears.  From  the  days 
of  Noah,  distinguished  in  most  of  the  ancient 


PREFACE.  XV 

histories,  till  about  500  years  before  Christ, 
we  have  scarcely  a  fact  to  rest  upon ;  and 
if  serious  difficulties  arise  to  historians  in 
treating  of  events  after  this  period,  when  his 
tory  assumes  a  form  tolerably  connected  and 
regular,  what  shall  they  not  have  to  struggle 
with,  who,  in  pursuit  of  their  object,  are 
forced  on  those  ages,  the  remembrance  of 
which  is  only  preserved  in  monstrous  and 
mutilated  traditions  ?  They  indeed  hint  of 
great  events  that  have  passed,  and  exploits 
famous  in  the  transaction ;  but  the  story  has 
died  with  the  actors  and  witnesses,  and  is  for 
ever  lost. 

The  great  and  mighty  kingdoms  of  Egypt 
and  Hindostan,  the  remains  of  whose  ancient 
power  and  grandeur  have  astonished  the  world 
for  two  thousand  years ;  with  the  Assyrian 
empire,  all  rose  to  their  zenith  of  greatness 
and  power  in  these  dark  ages ;  and  doubtless, 
thousands  of  men,  distinguished  as  much  for 
virtue,  heroick  intrepidity,  and  patriotism,  as 
any  of  latter  times,  have  passed  away  with 
out  leaving  a  single  trace  behind.  The  long 
period  of  years  during  which  they  flourished 
in  all  their  greatness,  has  not  left  on  the 
ample  page  of  history  one  single  brilliant 
action,  or  glorious  achievement:  and  later 


XVl  PREFACE. 

men  have  marked  that  series  of  years  with 
the  broad,  emphatick,  dreary  words,  UN 
KNOWN  or  FABULOUS  AGES. 

Vixere  fortes  ante  Agamemnona 

Multi :  sed  omnes  illacrimabilea 
Urgentur  ignotique  longa 
Nocte,  carent  quia  vate  sacro. — HOR. 

And  even  the  sacred  poet  has  not  been  able 
to  establish    in  all   minds  a   conviction   of 
the  truth  of  his  narration.     The  very  poet 
just  cited  is  a  striking  example;    for  the 
existence  of  Agamemnon  himself  has  been 
disputed,  and  the  brave  and  chivalrous  ex 
ploits  of  his  associates  and  heroick  enemies, 
have   been  asserted  to  have  existed  only  in 
the  glowing  imagination  of  the  bard.     Thus 
difficulties  arise  one  after  the  other,  and  seem 
as  if  they  would  perpetually  recur  to  the  em- 
barrasment  and   disappointment  of  persons 
engaged  in  historick  pursuits.     And  if  the 
early  civilized  and  polished  Greeks  have  left 
the  dawn  of  their  history  involved  in  such 
doubts,  that  their  best  historian  acknowledg 
es  he  can  find  nothing  certain  of  the  begin 
ning  orearliest  transactions  of  his  own  na 
tion,   what  indulgencies  are  authors  not  to 
expect,  in  writing  on  a  people  who  have  been 
from  the  earliest  times,  until  the  year  1500 


PREFACE. 

A.  D.  utterly  unknown,  through  a  lapse  of 
more  than  3000 years ;  a  people  having  none, 
or  remarkably  few  monuments  ;  and    even 
those,  which  in  some  instances  might  have 
been  useful,  are  concealed  under  the  myste 
rious  veil  of  hieroglyphic  symbols — Scarce 
ly  a  star  glimmers  on  our  path,  yet  we  have 
to  pass  a  wide  and  trackless  waste,  full  of  dan 
gers  and  difficulties  ;  and  even  when  we  may 
arrive  at  our  proposed  journey's  end,  doubts 
may  remain  whether  we  have  reached  it  by 
that  road  which  so   many  have  in  vain  at 
tempted  to  find.      But  to  use  a  simile  of  Dr. 
Burnett's,  "  if  an  ancient  and  intricate  lock 
"  is  discovered,  and  after  trying  uosuccess- 
"  fully  many  keys,   if  we  at  least ;  get   one 
ec  that  draws  the    bolt,  we  may  fairly  con- 
"  elude  that  it  is  the  original  and  real  key." 
On  the  same  principle,  if  our  system  ex 
plains  or  accounts  for  the  various  and  seem 
ingly  opposite  facts  that  are  entitled  to  ad 
mission,  respecting  the  Aborigines  of  Ameri 
ca,  we  may  venture  to  offer  to  the  publick 
the  inquiries  made,  and  the  result  of  the  ob 
servations  that  incline  us  to  suppose  we  have 
found  the  key   to  those  difficulties,  which 
have  so  long  embarrassed  the  speculations  on 
this  interesting  subject. 


XViii  PREFACE. 

Perhaps  no  event  in  the  history  of  the 
world,  ever  excited  such  interest  among  the 
philosophick  and  inquiring,  as  the  discovery 
of  America  ;  almost  every  circumstance  con 
nected  with  this  continent  was  the  subject  of 
infinite  debate  and  speculation.  In  process 
of  time  many  of  these  obscure  and  difficult 
points  were  explained  away,  and  settled  to 
the  general  satisfaction  of  the  literary  world  ; 
but  other  questions,  and  some  of  them  of  the 
greatest  importance  to  philosophers,  have 
been  left  nearly  if  not  wholly  in  their  origi 
nal  obscurity.  Among  these  is  the  origin  of 
the  American  Indians.  Whence  come  they  ? 
In  what  age  did  they  arrive,  and  in  what 
manner?  A  curiosity  to  understand  or  explain 
the  difficulties  attending  the  peopling  of 
America,  first  led  the  author  of  this  essay  to 
make  some  research  on  the  subject,  the  re 
sult  of  which  is  now  given,  and  in  the  man 
ner  and  general  order  in  which  the  investi 
gation  proceeded. 


RESEARCHES  ON  AMERICA. 

CHAPTER  I. 

WHENCE  COME  THE  MEN  AND  ANIMALS  OF  AMERICA? 

XT  would  be  very  unnecessary  to  introduce  in  this 
place,  the  various  theories  which  have  been  proposed 
for  solving  this  question  ;  suffice  it  to  observe,  that 
generally  they  have  been  so  very  imperfect,  that  it 
has  been  doubted  by  many,  whether  a  satisfactory 
answer  could  be  given. 

At  present,  those  who  do  not  wish  to  leave  this 
curious  subject  in  all  its  original  obscurity,  have 
adopted  the  hypothesis  of  Dr.  Robertson ;  a  prefer 
ence,  which  is  more,  perhaps,  to  be  ascribed  to  the 
eloquent  and  classical  language  of  that  great  histo 
rian,  than  to  the  weight  of  his  facts,  or  even  the 
plausibility  of  his  speculations.  As  this  opinion  is 
usually  referred  to  as  authority  to  the  point  in  ques 
tion,  it  may  not  be  improper  to  show,  that  its  author 
formed  his  belief  on  very  slight  grounds,  and  that 
there  are  several  important  points  which  such  an  opi 
nion  fails  to  elucidate. 

"  The  vicinity  of  the  two  continents  of  Asia  and 
America,"  says  Dr.  Robertson,  "  renders  it  highly 
probable  that  the  human  race  first  passed  that  way 


20 

from  Asia.  In  latitude  sixty-six  degrees  north,  the 
two  coasts  are  only  thirteen  leagues  asunder,  and  about 
midway  between  them  lie  two  islands,  the  distance 
from  which  to  either  shore  is  short  of  twenty  miles ; 
at  this  place  the  natives  of  Asia  could  find  no  diffi 
culty  in  passing  over  to  the  opposite  coast,  which  is 
in  sight  of  their  own ;  they  might  have  also  travelled 
across  on  sledges  or  on  foot,  for  we  have  reason  to 
believe,  from  the  accounts  of  captain  Cook  and  his 
officers,  that  the  strait  is  entirely  frozen  over  in  the 
winter,  so  that  the  continents  during  that  season,  with 
respect  to  the  communication  between  them,  may  be 
considered  as  one  land. 

"  We  may  therefore  conclude,  that  the  Asiatics 
having  settled  in  those  parts  of  America,  where  the 
Russians  have  discovered  the  proximity  of  the  two 
continents,  spread  gradually  over  its  various  regions." 
(See  Robertson's  Hist.  America.) 

This  proposed  route  for  the  emigration  of  man 
kind  from  Asia  to  America,  is,  in  the  very  com 
mencement,  opposed  by  the  striking  fact,  that  about 
Behring's  Straits,  the  precise  spot  where  Dr.  Robert- 
son  believes  man  to  have  crossed  over  from  one  con 
tinent  to  the  other,  there  is  a  very  widely  extended 
race  of  men  interposed,  who  are  utterly  dissimilar  to 
either  Asiatics  or  Americans.  This  race  is  the  Esqui 
maux,  who,  as  Dr.  Robertson  hiitlself  acknowledges, 
bear  a  near  resemblance  to  the  northern  Europeans, 
and  none  to  the  American  Indians. 

This  fact,  so  directly  adverse  to  the  doctor's  gene 
ral  theory,  obliges  him  to  form  a  new  opinion  as  to 


21 

the  origin  of  the  Esquimaux  ;  whom  he  supposes  to 
be  descendants  from  the  Norwegians  and  Icelanders. 
But  is  it  probable,  I  was  near  saying,  possible,  that 
within  the  time  that  has  elapsed  since  the  fourteenth 
century,  the  Norwegians  could  have  been  degraded 
from  their  lofty  stature  down  to  that  of  Esquimaux  ? 
Can  we  suppose,  moreover,  that  any  people  used  to 
the  comforts  of  civilized  life,  would  stay  in  the  most 
dreary,  desolate,  and  unfruitful  region  on  earth — in  a 
tract  of  country  where  the  cold  is  so  excessive,  that 
ten  degrees  farther  to  the  south  than  Behring's  Straits, 
every  aqueous  and  fermented  liquid  is  frozen,  not 
withstanding  the  efforts  of  man,  and  where  even  spi 
rits  of  wine  are  reduced  by  the  frost  to  the  consist 
ence  of  oil  ? 

Besides,  the  Norwegians  landed  in  Greenland ;  now 
the  Esquimaux  extend  across  the  whole  continent  of 
America,  along  the  circle  of  latitude  sixty-five  de 
grees  north  ;  a  distance  greater  than  4500  miles  ;  or 
from  Greenland  to  Behring's  Straits  ;  for  captain 
Cook  found  them  at  Norton  Sound,  Oonelashka,  and 
Prince  William's  Sound.  (See  his  third  voyage.) 
This  statement  must  close  the  absurdity  of  giving 
an  European  origin  to  this  people  ;  for  who  can  be 
lieve,  that  a  colony  of  civilized  men,  would  confine 
their  migrations  exclusively  along  the  Arctic  circle.* 

*  The  Greenlanders  and  Esquimaux  are  certainly  the  same  people ; 
this  is  evident  from  Crantz'  History  of  Greenland ;  but  that  they  are 
perfectly  dissimilar  to  any  nation  of  Europe,  or  Asia,  is  also  certain. 
Reese's  Cyclopaedia,  see  article  Greenland,  has  the  following-  observa 
tion  : 

"  The  language  of  the  Greenlanders  seems  to  have  no  affinity  in  ety- 

4 


22 

Mr,  Pennant,  though  the  most  able  defender  of 
Dr.  Robertson's  opinion,  observes  that  the  Norwe 
gians,  when  they  first  landed  in  America,  found  the 
Esquimaux  already  there,  and  gave  them  the  name 
of  Skrcelingues,  or  dwarfish  people,  from  their  small 
stature.  See  Arctic  Zoology,  Introduc.  vol.  i.  p. 
164. 

But  the  facts  most  strongly  opposed  to  a  migration 
to  America  by  way  of  Behring's  Straits,  may  be  de 
duced  from  the  utter  impossibility  of  animals  ever 
reaching  this  continent  by  that  route ;  and  if  they 
could  not  arrive  in  this  way,  the  theory  is  indefensi 
ble  ;  for  we  must  believe,  that  men  and  animals  did 
come  by  the  same  passage,  wherever  such  passage 
may  have  lain.  To  admit  the  contrary,  would  be  a 
libel  on  the  proceedings  of  the  Deity,  who,  without 
a  deviation  from  his  uniform  wisdom  and  simplicity 
of  design,  could  not  have  provided  two  ways  where 
one  only  was  necessary.  This  must  be  obvious  to 
the  lowest  capacity. 

Some  persons,  however,  have  the  hardihood  to 
contend,  that  men  and  animals  did  pass  by  Behring's 
Straits  to  America.  Such  an  allegation  as  this,  sup 
poses  that  animals  living  now  only  in  the  hottest  parts 

mology,  signification,  or  declension,  with  any  of  the  northern,  Tarta- 
rian,  or  Indian  languages,  as  far  as  they  are  known  to  us  ;  excepting 
the  Esquimaux,  who,  however,  seem  to  be  the  same  people :— their 
language  is  copious  and  graceful,  perhaps  not  less  so  than  any  lan 
guage  we  are  acquainted  with." 

We  might  also  apply,  if  it  was  considered  necessary,  every  one  of 
the  arguments  which  we  have  used  on  the  Esquimaux ,  to  the  Tschutchi 
on  the  Asiatic  side  of  Behring's  Straits  ;  who  are  perfectly  dissimilar 
to  any  of  the  Asiatic  nations. 


23 

of  America,  such  as  the  guanas,  alligators,  monkies, 
parrots,  and  a  vast  number  more,  actually  past  in  the 
winter,  within  the  Arctic  circle,  through  a  cold  that 
congeals  spirits  of  wine  !  For  the  writers  who  main 
tain  this  hypothesis,  have  been  necessarily  obliged  to 
make  them  pass  in  the  winter,  in  order  that  they  may 
avail  themselves  of  a  bridge  of  solid  ice,  forty  miles 
in  length,  which,  during  this  season,  connects  the 
two  worlds  together.  Besides,  is  not  all  herbage 
either  killed  or  covered  with  snow,  for  hundreds  of 
miles,  both  on  the  Asiatic  and  the  American  side  of 
the  strait,  during  the  inclemencies  of  winter  ? 

This  brief  examination  of  Robertson's  theory,  is 
all  I  conceive  necessary ;  the  more  so,  as  he  himself 
simply  advances  it  without  attempting  its  permanent 
establishment.  Several  writers  have,  indeed,  endea 
voured  to  confirm  it,  but  without  success.  Neither 
has  the  laboured  and  curious  essay  of  Dr.  Barton, 
nor  the  shorter  attempt  of  Mr.  Pennant,*  eventuated 
more  favourably  to  their  respective  writers.  Their 
arguments  I  shall  pass  over  without  notice.  Dr.  Bar 
ton's  arguments  may  be  found  in  his  New  Views  of 

*  It  is  astonishing  that  Mr.  Pennant  should  support  this  hypothesis ; 
for  he  describes  the  cold  of  these  regions  so  excessive,  that  we  will  in 
further  refutation  of  his  theory,  give  the  following  extract  from  his 
Arctic  Zoology,  In  trod.  I.  113. 

"  The  climate  daring  winter  is  uncommonly  severe,  for  so  low  as 
Bolcheretsk,  lat  5~2°  3(X,  all  intercourse  between  neighbours  is  stop 
ped,  they  dare  not  stir  out  for  fear  of  being  frost  bit ;  snow  lies  on  the 
ground  from  six  to  eight  feet  thick,  as  late  as  May ;  and  the  storms 
rage  with  uncommon  impetuosity,  owing  to  the  subterraneous  fires,  the 
sulphurous  exhalations,  and  general  volcanick  disposition  of  the  coun- 
try." 

To  this  description  we  will  only  add,  that  Behring's  Sraits  are  yet 
14°  further  to  the  north,  than  Bolcheretsk  ! 


24 

the  Origin  of  our  Aborigines,  and  those  of  Mr.  Pen 
nant  in  the  introduction  to  his  Arctic  Zoology,  vol. 
i.  p.  161. 

Some  theorists  have  suggested  an  opinion,  that 
Asiatics  have  been  forced  to  sea  in  boats,  and  driven 
by  storms  or  currents  afterwards  upon  the  American 
continent ;  and  in  this  manner  they  account  for  the 
peopling  of  the  new  world.  The  most  invincible  ar 
guments  are  opposed  to  this  hypothesis. 

Without  considering  the  disastrous  and  unprovi 
ded  state  of  persons  who  may  have  been  thus  unex 
pectedly  driven  to  sea ;  and  who,  without  water  or 
provisions,  in  open  boats,  had  to  perform  a  danger 
ous  navigation  of  several  thousand  miles  ;— '-such  an 
opinion  will  not  account  for  the  appearance  of  ani 
mals  in  America ;  of  animals  not  only  useless  to 
mankind,  but  in  many  instances  fierce,  intractable, 
or  poisonous;  or  what  must  completely  destroy  the 
theory,  the  fact,  that  there  are  many  animals  found 
in  America  utter/2/  unknown  to  any  part  of  the  old 
xvorld. 

The  opinion  of  the  Abbe  Clavigero,  that  land  once 
connected  Africa  and  South  America  together,  is 
certainly  erroneous  and  imperfect ;  and  has  so  few, 
if  any  advocates,  that  it  is  not  deemed  worth  while  to 
enumerate  the  difficulties  his  theory  has  to  encounter. 

In  concluding  this  chapter  it  may  be  proper  to  ob 
serve,  that  in  Rees's  Cyclopaedia,  under  the  article 
America,  the  various  hypothesis  respecting  the  peo 
pling  of  the  new  world,  have  been  ably  considered. 
To  that  work,  therefore,  the  reader  is  at  present  re 
ferred  for  ample  information. 


25 


CHAPTER  II. 

PROPOSED  SOLUTION    OF  THE  QUESTION,    TOUCHING  THE 
PEOPLING  OF  THE  CONTINENT  OF  AMERICA. 

HAVING  now  shown,  that  the  difficulties  attending 
the  settlement  of  America,  by  men  and  animals,  can 
not  be  explained  by  the  commonly  received  opinions, 
we  are  in  a  manner  forced  into  the  belief,  that  our 
earth  has  suffered  under  some  great  convulsion,  that 
has  destroyed  the  communications  that  once  existed 
between  the  new  and  old  continents. 

We  conceive  there  are  faint  remembrances  of  this 
great  event,  preserved  in  certain  traditions  of  some 
ancient  nations,  and  regarding  them  in  the  light  of 
collateral  testimony,  will  preface  our  inquiry  with  a 
few  of  the  most  striking.  There  cannot  be  a  doubt 
but  there  are  many  fabulous  circumstances  connect 
ed  with  them ;  but  we  are  convinced,  that  men  ne 
ver  make  traditions  or  histories,  without  having  some 
foundation  for  them  ;  how  far  they  may  alter  or  cor 
rupt  the  truth  of  the  fact,  is  not  always  to  be  ascer 
tained  : — But  in  the  traditions  we  are  about  t$  intro 
duce,  it  will,  I  hope,  be  hereafter  proved,  that  the 
greatness  of  the  events  have  been  diminished,  rather 
than  exaggerated. 

Although  the  truth  of  the  story  related  by  the 
Egyptian  priests  to  Solon,  respecting  the  Island  Ata- 


26 

lantis,  has  been  disputed  and  denied;  yet,  many 
learned  men  have  defended  the  narration,  and  this 
latter  opinion  has  gained  credence  considerably  with 
in  the  last  forty  or  fifty  years ;  no  doubt  there  is 
something  fabulous  in  the  narration  ;  but  that  there 
was  such  an  island  or  continent,  is  highly  probable, 
and  we  have,  within  a  few  years,  received  no  slight 
proofs  of  its  actual  existence.  The  relation  made 
to  Solon  was  as  follows : 

"  You  Greeks,  says  the  Egyptian,  are  ever  chil 
dren  ;  an  air  of  youth  is  visible  in  all  your  histories 
and  traditions ;  your  country,  from  its  situation,  is 
forever  exposed  to  those  inundations  which  sweep 
away  the  generations  of  men,  and  leave  no  traces  of 
the  past.  The  lofty  mountain  of  the  Thebais  of 
Egypt,  affords  its  inhabitants  a  more  secure  asylum, 
and  in  its  temples  are  deposited  the  records  of  ages 
and  nations  long  buried  in  oblivion.  There  have 
been  innumerable  deluges  and  conflagrations  of  the 
superficial  regions  of  the  globe.  Your  fable  of  Phae 
ton  setting  the  world  on  fire,  is  founded  on  some  mu 
tilated  tradition  of  one  of  these  grand  catastrophes,  in 
which  terrestrial  things  have  perished,  by  the  devas 
tation  of  the  igneous  element.  Your  histories,  I 
know,  mention  only  one  deluge ;  but  there  have 
been  various  and  successive  deluges  prior  to  that 
mighty  one  recorded  of  Deucalion  and  Pyrrha. 
There  existed  an  ancient  and  celebrated  people  in 
Greece,  the  wisdom  of  whose  laws,  and  fame  of 
whose  valour,  are  renowned  in  the  sacred  writings 
and  ancient  annals  of  Egypt.  This  heroick  race  were 
as  highly  celebrated  for  their  exploits  by  sea  as  by 


27 

land,  as  was  evident  in  their  arduous  contests  with 
the  mighty  nation  who  formerly  inhabited  the  vast 
island  Atalantis,  now  buried  in  the  ocean  which  bears 
its  name.  This  island  was  situated  near  the  straits 
of  Gades,  and  it  exceeded  in  magnitude  all  Europe 
and  Asia  joined  together.  It  was  so  called  from  At 
las,  the  son  of  Neptune,  whose  descendants  reigned 
there  in  an  hereditary  line,  during  a  period  of  nine 
thousand  years  ;  and  extended  their  sway  over  all 
the  adjoining  regions,  for  there  was  an  easy  passage 
from  this  island  to  the  neighbouring  islands  and  con 
tinents  ;  and  their  armies  passing  over  into  Europe 
and  Africa,  subdued  all  Lybia,  to  the  borders  of 
Egypt,  and  all  Europe  to  Asia  Minor :  in  succeed 
ing  ages,  owing  to  prodigious  earthquakes  and  inun 
dations,  in  the  space  of  one  day  and  night,  all  that 
part  of  Greece  which  your  ancestors  inhabited,  was 
desolated  and  submerged,  and  the  Atlantic  island 
itself,  being  suddenly  absorbed  into  the  bosom  of  the 
ocean,  entirely  disappeared,  and  for  many  ages  after 
wards,  that  sea  could  not  be  navigated,  owing  to  the 
numerous  rocks  and  shelves  with  which  it  abound 
ed." 

As  a  proof  of  the  existence  of  this  island,  or  coun 
try  Atalantis,  Mr.  Taylor,  who  has  translated  the 
works  of  Plato,  gives  the  following  relation  of  one 
Marcellus,  who  wrote  a  history  of  Ethiopic  affairs, 
according  to  Proclus,  in  Tim.  p.  55.* 

"That  such  and  so  great  an  island  once  existed, 
is  convinced  by  those  who  have  composed  histories  of 

*  Proclus  lived  800  years  after  Plato.  The  works  of  Marcellus,  \vhom 
he  quotes,  are  lost. 


28 

things  relative  to  the  external  sea ;  for  they  relate  that 
in  their  times  there  were  seven  islands  in  the  Atlan 
tic  sacred  to  Proserpine:  and  besides  these,  three 
others  of  an  immense  magnitude,  one  of  which  was 
sacred  to  Pluto,  another  to  Ammon,  and  another, 
which  is  the  middle  of  these,  and  is  of  a  thousand 
stadia,  to  Neptune  ;  and  besides  this,  that  the  inha 
bitants  of  this  last  island  preserved  the  memory  of 
the  prodigious  magnitude  of  the  Atlantic  island,  as 
related  by  their  ancestors,  and  of  its  governing,  for 
many  periods,  all  the  islands  in  the  Atlantic  sea." 
(Sec  Rees's  Cyclop,  art.  Atlantis.) 

The  Hindoos  have  in  their  ancient  maps  and  re 
cords,  a  region  called  Atala,  which  they  assert  was 
sunk  by  earthquakes*  (See  Asiat.  Research,  vol.  Hi. 
p.  300,  and  also  vol.  viii.  p.  375,  where  a  more  en- 
larged  description  is  given.) 

The  appearance  of  the  globe  in  that  part  in  which 
this  catastrophe  is  said  to  have  happened,  has  been 
asserted  by  some  learned  men  to  bear  marks  of  such 
an  event  having  taken  place ;  and  that  the  Canaries, 
Azores,  and  Teneriffe,  are  nothing  else  than  the  tops 
of  mountains  belonging  to  land  sunk  in  the  Atlantic 
Ocean.  BufFon  says  this  tradition  of  the  Island  Ata- 
lantis  is  not  devoid  of  probability,  and  that  the  lands 
swallowed  up  by  the  waters  were  perhaps  those  which 
united  Ireland  to  the  Azores,  arid  the  Azores  to  the 
continent  of  America.* 

*  The  presence  of  volcanoes,  either  burning  or  extinct,  in  every  island 
in  the  Atlantic  Ocean,  may  be  considered  as  no  slight  argument  in  our 
favour.  In  the  Azores  alone,  there  are  upwards  of  forty  extinct  or  ac 
tive  volcanoes. 


29 

Mr.  Whitehurst  says  so  much  in  favour  of  our 
hypothesis,  that  we  will  give  the  extract  in  his  own 
words.  He  was  treating  on  the  Giant's  Causeway  in 
Ireland,  which  he  asserts  is  of  volcanic  origin.  "  Who 
ever  attentively  views  and  considers  these  romantick 
cliffs,  together  with  their  exterior  appearances,  will, 
I  presume,  soon  discover  sufficient  cause  to  conclude, 
that  the  crater,  whence  that  melted  matter  flowed, 
together  with  an  immense  tract  of  land  toward  the 
north,  has  been  absolutely  sunk  and  swallowed  up 
into  the  earth,  at  some  remote  period  of  time,  and 
became  the  bottom  of  the  Atlantic  Ocean."  (See 
Whitehurst' 's  JVorks.)  He  also  makes  an  observa 
tion,  that  he  was  almost  persuaded  Ireland  was  ori 
ginally  a  part  of  the  island  Atalantis. 

This  opinion  of  Whitehurst's  is  strengthened  by 
the  following  remarkable  tradition  of  the  old  Irish, 
given  by  an  author  of  great  reputation,  whose  entire 
works  I  regret  I  have  never  been  able  to  see.  The 
gentleman  alluded  to  is  general  Vallancey,  who  says 
the  old  Irish  relate,  "that  a  great  part  of  Ireland  was 
swallowed  up  by  the  sea ;  and  that  the  sunken  part 
often  ris~s,  and  is  frequently  seen  on  the  horizon  from 
the  northern  coast.  In  the  north-west  of  Ireland  they 
call  a  city  of  this  enchanted  island  Tir  Hud,  or  the 
city  of  Hud,  believing  one  stands  there  which  once 
possessed  all  the  riches  of  the  world.  This  is  a  ge 
neral  tradition  with  them.  This  island  is  called  O 
Breasil,  or  0  Brazil,*  which  signifies  Royal  Island." 

*  There  is  a  rock  in  the  Atlantic  Ocean,  off  the  eastern  end  of  Ire 
land,  which  in  Bowie's  Maps,  No.  35,  is  called  O  Brazil,  I  have  had 
no  opportunity  of  examining  this  subject  further, 

5 


30 

General  Vallencey  says,  "  it  is  evidently  the  lost  city 
of  Arabian  story,  visited  by  their  prophet  Houd, 
namely,  the  city  and  paradise  of  Irem."  He  com 
pares  this  tradition  with  Whitehurst's  observations 
on  the  Giant's  Causeway,  and  suspects  it  refers  to 
the  lost  Atalantis"  (See  Notes  to  Southey's  Ma- 
doc,  vol.  i.  238.^ 

It  is  very  probable,  says  Mr.  Ray,  (see  Bujfon, 
vol.  i.  491.J  that  the  islands  of  Great  Britain  were 
formerly  joined  to  France :  whether  the  separation 
was  occasioned  by  an  earthquake,  or  an  irruption  of 
the  ocean,  we  know  not,  but  its  former  junction  is 
evident  from  the  identity  of  the  rocks  and  different 
strata,  at  the  same  elevation  on  their  opposite  coasts, 
and  from  the  similar  extent  of  the  rocks  on  each  side 
being  both  about  six  miles.  The  narrowness  of  the 
strait,  which  is  not  more  than  twenty-four  miles,  and 
its  shallowness,  when  compared  to  the  depth  of  the 
neighbouring  sea,  render  it  probable  that  England 
has  been  separated  from  France  by  some  accident. 
He  adds  farther,  to  prove  their  former  union,  that 
wolves  and  bears  once  existed  in  England  :  it  is  not 
probable  that  these  animals  could  swim  over,  nor  can 
we  be  so  absurd  as  to  suppose  men  would  transport 
them  over ;  we  must  therefore  come  to  the  conclu 
sion,  that  there  has  been  an  union  between  the  island 
and  continent,  which  enabled  them  to  pass  without 
difficulty. 

Kir  wan,  in  his  work  on  Geology,  says,  that  En 
gland  and  Ireland  have  been  separated  from  each 
other,  and  the  continent,  since  the  deluge. 

Pennant,  (see  Introduction  to  Arctic  Zoology,  ?"• 


31 

11.^  says,  he  is  of  opinion  that  England  was  part  of 
the  Island  Atalantis. 

The  Islands  of  Scilly,  are  believed  by  many  of 
the  English  Geologists  and  Antiquarians,  to  have 
been  violently  separated  from  Cornwall.*  (See 
Hist,  of  Scilly  Isles,  by  Robt.  Heath,  234J 

Trie  ancient  name  of  these  Islands  of  Scilly,  was 
SORLINGS,  which  in  the  old  British  language  signi 
fies,  separated  from  the  height  of  the  land.  (See 
Cyclop,  art.  Cassiterides.J 

Mr.  Bakewell,  in  his  late  work  on  Geology,  page 
234,  observes,  "  The  position  of  the  strata  in  the  Isle 
of  Wight,  demonstrates  that  some  great  convulsion 
has  upheaved  from  their  foundations,  and  overturned 
the  whole  mass  of  Chalk  Rocks,  and  the  superin 
cumbent  strata,  which  covers  them  not  less  than 
3000  feet  in  thickness.  At  the  period  when  this  was 
effected,  it  is  not  improbable  that  England  was  se 
parated  from  the  continent." 

Though  somewhat  irrelevant  to  our  subject,  we 
introduce  the  following  article  from  Buffon,  as  testi 
mony  in  our  favour,  of  the  great  changes  which  have 
happened  in  our  globe  since  the  Noachich  deluge. 
Buffon  asserts,  that  the  Mediterranean  sea  is  not  an 
ancient  gulf,  but  that  it  has  been  formed  by  an  erup 
tion  produced  from  some  accidental  cause  ;  such  as 
an  earthquake  swallowing  up  the  barrier,  or  a  violent 

*  There  are  numerous  Geological  facts  which  countenance  the  belief 
that  there  has  been  a  great  destruction  of  land  around  Great  Britain ; 
see,  among  many  instances,  the  report  of  the  Abb£  Correa  de  Serra, 
(Philos.  Mag.  IV.  287.)  on  the  Subterraneous  and  Submerged  Forest, 
on  the  coast  of  Lincolnshire.  Pinkerton's  Geog,  I.  181. 


32 

effort  of  the  ocean  occasioned  by  the  wind,  and  for 
cing  its  way  through  the  bank,  between  the  promon 
tories  of  Gibraltar  and  Ceuta.  This  opinion  is  sup 
ported  by  that  of  Diod.  Siculus  and  Strabo,  who  in 
form  us  that  once  the  Mediterranean  sea  did  not  ex 
ist  ;  it  is  likewise  confirmed  by  natural  history,  and 
observation  upon  the  strata,  on  the  opposite  coasts 
of  Africa  and  Spain,  whereas,  in  the  neighbouring 
mountains,  the  beds  of  earth  and  stone  are  the  same 
at  equal  levels.  (See  Buffon^  vol.  i.  35.  J 

Might  not  the  great  convulsion  which  destroyed 
Atalantis,  also  have  occasioned  the  formation  of  the 
Mediterranean  sea  ?  It  is  possible,  as  that  island  was 
in  part  situated  before  the  pillars  of  Hercules,  accord- 
ing  to  the  Egyptian  priest. 

Mr.  Bakcwell,  in  his  work  on  Geology,  p.  237, 
appears  to  meet  this  question,  by  observing  that  a 
violent  subterranean  explosion,  nearly  in  this  neigh 
bourhood,  took  place  in  1775  ;  which  shook  in  the 
same  hour  all  northern  Africa,  the  southern  king 
doms  of  Europe,  and  was  felt  on  the  distant  shores 
of  the  American  Islands. 

We  have  now  shown,  that  there  is  some  argument 
for  our  belief,  that  land  once  existed  in  the  Atlantic 
Ocean  ;  we  can  also  show  that  the  countries  and 
islands  on  and  in  the  Indian  and:  Pacific  Oceans  give 
evidence  that  land  was  once  submerged  in  those  por 
tions  of  the  globe, 

The  Ceylonese  have  a  tradition,  that  an  irruption 
of  the  sea  separated  their  island  from  the  peninsula 
of  India ;  and  a  similar  tradition  is  related  by  the  in 
habitants  of  Malabar,  in  regard  to  Sumatra. 


33 

Pallas  gives  his  opinion,  that  volcanic  eruptions 
have  destroyed  land  that  existed  formerly  between 
the  Philippine,  Mariane,  and  Caroline  islands  ;  also 
between  New  Guinea,  New  Holland,  the  Molucca, 
and  Maldiva  islands* f  (See  Howard  on  the  Globe, 
359J 

Sir  Joseph  Banks  says,  "  From  many  circumstan 
ces  it  may  not  be  unreasonably  supposed,  that  Ota- 
heite  and  the  neighbouring  islands  are  either  shatter 
ed  remains  of  a  continent ;,  which  some  have  supposed 
to  be  necessary  in  this  part  of  the  globe,  to  preserve 
an  equilibrium  of  its  parts,  and  which  were  left  be 
hind,  when  the  rest  sunk  by  the  mining  of  a  subter 
raneous  fire  :  or  were  torn  from  rocks  which  from 
the  creation  of  the  world  had  been  the  bottom  of  the 
sea,  and  thrown  up  in  heaps  to  a  height  that  the  wa 
ters  never  reach.  The  sea  does  not  gradually  grow 
shallow,  as  the  shore  is  approached  :  the  islands  are 
almost  every  where  surrounded  by  reefs,  which  ap 
pear  to  be  rude  and  broken,  as  some  violent  convul 
sions  would  naturally  leafre  the  solid  substance  of  the 
earth." 

The  inhabitants  of  Otaheite  have  a  tradition,  that 
once  the  great  Gods  in  their  anger,  broke  in  pieces 
the  whole  ruorld,  and  that  islands  are  but  small  parts 
of  the  great  lands y  Sfc.  (See  Nature  and  Art,  vol. 
ix.  66. ) 

As  a  collateral  argument,  we  observe  that  there  is 

f  So  universal  are  the  traces  of  volcanic  fires  throughout  the  Pacific 
Ocean,  that  New  Caledonia  is  remarkable,  from  the  circumstance  of 
not  exhibiting  any  marks  of  their  appearance.  (See  Rees's  Cyclopedia, 
J\'ew  Caledonia.) 


34 

a  period  in  the  Hindoo  histories,  which  was  charac 
terized  by  the  great  earthquakes  that  took  place  at 
that  time,  which  were  sufficient  to  make  an  yug  or 
age  of  earthquakes.  (See  Hist.  Hind.  vol.  i.  503.  J 

Clavigero  in  his  history  of  Mexico,  relates  that  the 
Mexicans,  in  their  descriptions  of  the  different  ages 
of  the  world,  say  that  the  second  age  lasted  from  the 
time  of  the  inundation  until  the  ruin  of  the  giants,  and 
the  great  earthquakes,  which  concluded  the  second 
sun,  which  they  supposed  was  destroyed  at  the  end 
of  every  age. 

In  concluding  this  chapter,  we  will  only  remark, 
that  the  number  of  traditions  and  geological  observa 
tions,  having  a  reference  to  a  great  convulsion  of  our 
earth,  must  strike  the  reader  as  some  evidence  in  our 
favour ;  the  universality  of  these  traditions,  also  indu 
ces  us  to  believe  that  a  great  extent  of  land  has  been 
destroyed,  f 

f  It  is  impossible  to  apply  the  science  of  geology  at  large,  to  this  hy 
pothesis,  for  the  original  conformation  of  the  globe  is  unknown ;  the 
arrangement  of  mineral  substances  aflfc  unknown ;  the  internal  structure 
of  the  globe  is  unknown ;  the  causes  of  earthquakes  and  volcanoes, 
those  important  agents  in  geology,  are  unknown.  In  fact  it  might  be 
asked,  What  is  known  of  Geology  ?  Nothing.  Formerly,  whenever  the 
deluge,  or  any  great  revolution  or  convulsion  of  nature  was  mentioned, 
the  writer  framed  a  system  of  geology  for  his  own  use  ;  generally  com 
posed  of  various  strata  of  oil,  earth,  water,  fire,  &c.  &c.  By  a  dextrous 
management  of  these  strata  any  changes  were  made  or  modified,  ac 
cording  to  the  will  of  the  theorist.  A  complete  stop  to  such  system 
framing  has  taken  place  of  late  years,  by  the  ingenious  and  interesting 
discovery  of  the  density  of  our  earth ;  this  mathematical  problem  has 
thrown  all  of  our  geological  speculations  into  confusion  and  inconsist 
encies,  from  which  it  is  not  likely  they  will  shortly  recover.  The  great 
object  to  be  proved  by  this  essay,  to  wit,  a  great  submersion  of  land, 
must  therefore  derive  its  support  from  the  consideration  of  other  sub- 


35 

From  the  present  appearances  of  the  earth,  its  is 
lands,  and  other  circumstances  connected  with  them, 
we  do  not  think  it  a  hasty  or  rash  declaration  to  say, 
that  we  believe,  since  the  deluge,  there  was  land  of 
great  extent  in  the  Pacific,  Indian,  and  Atlantic 
Oceans ;  no  doubt  much  shattered  and  broken,  yet 
not  to  such  a  degree  as  to  hinder  men  and  animals 
from  roaming  through  the  extended  parts.  During 
this  state  of  things,  or  whilst  men  and  animals  were 
traversing  the  world,  this  land  was  generally  submerg 
ed  ;  and  though  numbers  of  men  and  animals  were 
doubtless  destroyed,  yet  the  new  formed  islands  (frag 
ments  of  this  land,)  preserved  many;  and  thus  early 
severed  from  the  rest  of  the  world,  these  fragments 
of  the  human  family  have  remained  through  succes 
sive  generations,  until  the  spirit  of  navigation  and 
modern  enterprise  once  more  united  the  links  be- 
tween  them  and  their  brother  men. 

jects,  and  which  may  indirectly  lead  to  conclusions,  satisfactory  on 
this  head,  I  therefore  trust  the  defence  of  my  geological  theory  to  the 
ensuing  chapters  of  this  work. 

It  may  be  well,  however,  to  observe,  that  the  old  opinion  which  con 
sidered  the  creation  and  the  deluge  as  the  only  events,  which  compre 
hend  the  changes  that  have  taken  place  on  our  earth,  has  been  set  aside 
by  late  geologists,  especially  by  the  celebrated  Cuvier,  who  decidedly 
considers  our  earth  to  have  suffered  under  three  universal  convulsions 
of  nature.  "  Life,"  observes  the  same  celebrated  philosopher,  "  has 
often  been  disturbed  on  this  earth  by  terrible  events  ;  calamities  which 
at  their  commencement,  have,  perhaps,  moved  and  overturned  to  a  great 
depth,  the  entire  outer  crust  of  the  globe ;  but  which  since  these  first 
commotions,  have  uniformly  acted  at  a  less  depth  and  less  generally." 
(See  Cuvier's  Geology,  15.) 


CHAPTER  III. 

ON  THE  ISLANDERS  OF  THE  PACIFIC  OCEAN. 

As  further  proof  of  what  has  been  asserted,  there 
are  some  extraordinary  circumstances  connected  with 
the  islands  in  the  Pacific  Ocean,  that  most  strongly 
support  the  idea,  that  a  large  tract  of  land  once  ex- 
isted  across  that  sea,  and  which  has  been  submerged. 

How  these  islands  have  been  peopled,  is  as  curi 
ous  as  the  settlement  of  America  ;  and  the  facts  that 
explain  the  one  will  also  elucidate  the  other. 

In  looking  over  the  map,  we  find  New  Zealand 
about  1500  miles  distant  from  New  Holland  ;  which 
if  not  the  nearest  to  it  is  as  near  as  any  other  land ; 
and  from  which  the  Zealanders,  according  to  the 
common  theory,  can  only  be  supposed  to  have 
come :  now  the  New  Hollanders  are  mostly,  (for 
some  are  like  Malays)  as  black  as  African  negroes, 
fiat  noses,  wide  nostrils,  wide  sunk  eyes,  thick  brows 
and  lips,  very  large  mouths,  low  stature  and  ill  made, 
arms,  legs,  and  thighs,  thin.  The  New  Zealanders 
are  brown  and  yellowish,  long  black  hair,  and  in  one 
of  their  two  islands  some  have  white  features,  regu 
lar  and  pleasing. 

Is  it  possible  then,  that  under  such  circumstances 
we  can  Believe  the  people  of  Zealand  came  from 
New  Holland,  or  that  their  animals  ever  swam  1500 


37 

miles,  the  distance  between  New  Holland  and  New 
Zealand. 

The  New  Hebrides,  New  Caledonia,  Queen  Char 
lotte's  Islands,  &c.  lay  nearest  to  Papua  or  New  Gui 
nea  ;  from  which,  on  the  most  moderate  calculation, 
they  are  700  milts  distant,  and  nearly  that  distance 
from  one  to  the  other.  We  find  the  inhabitants  of 
these  islands  nearly  like  the  Zealanders ;  and  com 
pletely  different  from  the  Papuans,  who  are  black 
and  shining,  woolly  heads,  and  other  characters  of 
negroes. 

The  Friendly  Islands  are  distant  from  these  last 
group,  which  are  nearer  to  them  than  any  other  land, 
about  1200  miles. 

The  Society  Isles  are  about  1200  miles  distant  from 
these  last  islands. 

The  Sandwich  Islands  lay  above  3000  miles  from 
America,  and  at  least  1500  miles  from  those  groups 
of  islands,  where  man  is  supposed  to  have  crossed 
the  ocean ;  and  Maria  Lajara  is  300  miles  distant 
from  the  Sandwich  Islands. 

Yet  over  these  insulated  spots,  have  philosophers 
believed,  men  actually  crossed  to  America;,  and  that 
our  animals  also  came  by  the  same  route.  A  map 
of  this  sea  is  the  most  striking  authority  against  such 
an  opinion ;  and  should  be  consulted  as  to  the  dis 
tance  and  relative  situation  of  these  islands  to  one 
another,  and  to  America. 

So  great  is  love  of  theory,  that  the  possibility  of 
crossing  the  Pacific  Ocean  to  America,  in  the  way 
we  have  just  mentioned,  has  been  insisted  upon, 
from  the  rare  circumstance  of  finding  a  few  savages 


38 

in  canoes,  at  considerable  distances  from  land,  whi 
ther  they  had  been  driven  by  winds  or  currents.  We 
grant  that  they  have  been  found  at  great  distances 
from  their  islands  ;  but  never  to  one-third  of  the  dis 
tance  that  some  islands  lay  apart,  or  from  the  conti 
nent,  and  where  they  have  been  found ;  the  fact  is 
mentioned,  only  as  being  very  surprising  and  uncom 
mon. 

During  all  the  many  voyages  that  have  been  made 
in  this  sea,  the  circumstance  of  thus  finding  them,  as 
far  as  I  know,  does  not  amount  to  more  than  five  or 
six  instances ;  and  never  have  they  been  found  with 
animals  in  their  canoes,  from  whom  other  lands  might 
be  supplied. 

But  if  ten  thousand  men  in  canoes,  unprepared  as 
these  savages,  were  thus  driven  out  to  sea,  not  one  in 
a  thousand  could  possibly  go  half  the  distance  be 
tween  some  of  these  lands  without  starving ;  and 
then  what  are  the  chances  of  their  touching  land  at 
all  ?  The  idea  is  absurd,  and  requires  no  further 
comment. 

Capt.  Cook  asks,  "  How  shall  we  account  for  the 
Otaheitans  having  spread  themselves,  in  so  ma 
ny  detached  islands,  so  widely  disjoined  from 
each  other,  as  in  the  Pacific  ocean  ?  We  find 
the  language  of  these  islanders,  from  New 
Zealand  in  the  south,  as  far  as  the  Sandwich 
to  the  north ;  and  in  another  direction,  from 
Easter  Island  to  the  New  Hebrides,  to  be  dia- 
lecte  of  the  Otaheitan :  that  is  over  an  extent 
of  ocean  of  60  degrees  of  latitude,  or  1200 
leagues  N.  and  S.  and  83  degrees  longitude, 


39 

or  1660  leagues  E.  and  W."     See    CooPs 
Voyage,  4 to.  vol.  ii.  251. 

This  singular  circumstance  has  struck  most  of  the 
navigators  in  the  Pacific,  and  who  have  all  made  si 
milar  queries.  Nothing  can  be  more  in  favour  of 
our  hypothesis  than  this  remarkable  fact. 

Mankind,  after  the  confusion,  inarched,  according 
to  Moses,  in  three  directions.  The  children  of  Ham 
went  to  Africa,  Japhet  peopled  Europe,  while  Shem 
held  his  course  towards  the  East.  By  this  it  is  not 
to  be  understood,  that  they  each  went  in  a  body  to 
these  respective  parts  of  the  earth  ;  but,  on  the  con 
trary,  that  they  were  in  small  tribes  or  families,  and 
roving  over  the  world.*  A  continent  then  stood 
where  now  is  the  great  Pacific  ocean ;  and  while  men 
and  animals  were  in  this  loose  and  unsettled  state, 
this  tract  of  land  was  in  great  measure  sunk  under 
the  water,  and  only  the  tops  of  its  mountains  and 
highlands  remained  above  the  surface  of  the  sea. 
These  new  made  islands  saved  numbers  of  men  and 


*  This  is  certainly  the  most  natural  course  that  men  would  follow. 
It  does  not  appear  that  any  particular  allotment  of  country  was  assign- 
ed  to  any  particular  tribes  or  people  ;  though  I  am  willing  to  allow, 
that  the  respective  descendants  of  Shem,  Ham,  and  Japhet,  migrated  in 
general  towards  some  particular  points,  more  or  less  remote  from  each 
other.  I  subjoin  the  following  authority  to  ^his  opinion. 

Hue  fuit  quod  rerum  Phoeniciarum  vetustus  Scriptor  Histoeus  Mile- 
sius,  postquam  eos  qui  e  diluvio  evaserunt  venisse  dixit  in  Sennar  Ba 
by  Ion \x  ;  addit  continue ;  de  ccetero  inde  dispersi  propter  linguaram 
varietatem,  habitarunt  ubivis ;  et  unus  quisque  terram  occupavit  in  quam 
incidit.  Sochart  Phaleir,  page  72,  quarto. 

This  was  also  the  opinion  of  Bochart.  And  in  further  proof,  \re  will 
presently  exhibit  some  examples  or  instances,  which  can  only  be  ex 
plained  by  this  opinion. 


40 

animals,  who  were  thus  cut  off  from  the  rest  of  man 
kind,  until  their  discovery  a  few  years  since  by  mo 
dern  enterprise. 

According  to  the  learned  Jackson,  and  many  inge 
nious  and  sensible  commentators  on  the  Mosaic  wri 
tings,  the  language  of  man  at  Babel  was  not  divided 
into  radically  different  languages,  but  into  dialects  of 
some  few  original  and  distinct  languages.  Now  as 
the  settlements  of  the  children  of  Shem  were  towards 
the  East,  &c.  the  languages  over  its  extent  may  have 
been  mere  dialects  from  one  common  root,  belong 
ing  to  that  branch  of  Noah's  family  only  :  of  course, 
when  the  division  of  the  earth  took  place,  these  dia 
lects,  of  one  or  two  roots,  would  be  found  in  those 
islands  ;  the  remains  of  land,  once  settled  or  travelled 
over,  to  the  descendants  of  Shem ;  and  thus  the  great 
extent  of  sea,  where  we  find  this  extraordinary  diffu 
sion  of  one  language  and  its  dialects,  may  be  explain 
ed  and  accounted  for.* 

From  the  subjoined  observation,  this  appears  to 
be  undeniable.  In  sir  William  Jones's  Disquisitions 
on  the  Nations  of  the  East,  he  introduces  the  obser 
vations  of  a  distinguished  author,  (Mr.  Marsden,)  on 
the  insular  dialects  of  the  Indian  and  Pacific  Oceans, 

*  For  a  fact  that  will  have  an  analogous  explanation,  to  what  has 
been  observed  on  the  extent  of  the  diffusion"  of  one  language  through 
out  the  Pacific  Ocean ;  we  refer  to  Gen.  Valancey's  Irish  Grammar, 
where  it  is  asserted,  that  all  the  European  nations  were  originally  of 
Celtic  extraction  ;  more  particularly  the  Spaniards,  Portuguese,  Gauls, 
Germans,  Scandinavians,  Britains,  Picts,  Scots  or  Irish,  Jllpenines,  Li- 
gurii,  Umbrians,  and  several  others  of  Italy,  as  well  as  sundry  others 
seated  in  Russia,  Salmatia,  Hungary,  Poland,  &c,  (See  Irish  Grammar, 


41 

which  he  decidedly  affirms  to  be  all  dialects  of  the  San 
scrit,  the  original  language  of  the  East,  and  from 
which  the  languages  of  the  Eastern  world  may  even 
now  be  generally  derived.  See  Sir  W.  Jones's 
Works,  iii.  175. 

Dr.  Barton,  see  NEW  VIEWS,  &c.  says,  that  strong 
analogies  may  be  pointed  out  between  the  languages 
of  the  Pacific  Islanders,  and  the  American  Indians. 

How  can  we  explain  these  striking  facts,  unless  by 
the  theory  we  have  advanced  ;  for  we  can  now  trace 
a  language  originating  in  Eastern  Asia,  diffusing  it 
self  throughout  the  great  Pacific,  and  afterwards 
spreading  into  America. 

From  certain  analogies  between  the  language  of 
the  Malays,  and  that  of  the  Islanders  of  the  Pacific 
Oc'.an,  it  has  been  supposed,  that  the  Malays  colo- 
ir.zed  or  settled  these  Islands.  Mr.  Marsden,  whom 
we  have  just  quoted,  shews  the  language  of  the  Ma 
lays  is  also  a  dialect  of  the  Sanscrit — It  therefore  fol 
lows  of  course,  that  the  languages  of  the  Pacific  Is 
landers,  will  have  some  resemblance  to  the  Malay, 
for  they  are  both  dialects  of  one  original  stock; — but 
even  supposing  that  it  was  proved  the  Malay s  were  the 
original  settlers  of  these  islands,  how  were  the  ani 
mals  transported,  or  who  carried  those  animals,  such 
as  the  Ornithorincus  or  the  Kanguroo,  which  are 
found  in  these  Islands,  not  only  unknown  in  Ma 
lacca,  but  to  the  remainder  of  the  world. 

This  Malay  diffusion,  as  it  has  been  called,  has  ex 
cited  the  inquiry  of  Dr.  Pritchard,  a  very  ingenious 
physician ;  who  at  last  abandons  this  theory  in  the 
following  language  : 


42 

"  After  a  minute  inquiry  on  the  Malays  and  the 
diffusion  of  Malay  colonies  through  the  Indian 
and  Pacific  Oceans,  we  shall  be  obliged  to  give 
up  the  hypothesis  of  Malay  extraction  to  the 
Islanders  of  the  Pacific  ;  and  a  very  curious 
field  of  inquiry  is  opened  to  our  view,  by  the 
observation,  that  many  unequivocal  marks  re 
main  in  the  Indian  Islands,  and  in  various  parts 
of  the  Indian  continent,   declaring  a  state  of 
manners  to  have  existed  in  those  countries,  prior 
to  the  introduction  of  more  polished  and  artifi 
cial  modes  of  life,  which  closely  resemble  the 
rude  and  barbarous  customs  of  the  Pacific  Is 
landers" — Pritchard  on  Man,  306. 
The  explanation  of  this  fact  is  extremely  easy  and 
favourable  to  our  theory ;  for  it  is  supposed  that  men 
had  passed  in  many  places  over  these  islands,  then  a 
continent,  from  the  central  country  of  Babel,  with 
only  a  slight  dialectical  difference  in  languages,  and 
less  in  manners  and  customs ; — the  sinking  or  de 
struction  of  land,  cut  off  these  Islands  from  the  con- 
tinent,  and  the  Islands  of  the  Pacific  from  the  Indian 
Islands.     But  the  communications  between  the  con 
tinent  and  Indian  Islands,  were  not  entirely  destroy 
ed  ; — hence  they  and  the  continent  have  more  refin 
ed  forms  of  religion,  and  more  artificial  habits,  which 
are  the  result  of  greater  luxury^  or  knowledge,  or 
civilization.     But  the  immense  distances  between 
the  Islanders   of   the    Pacific   and  the    Indian    Is 
lands,  has  prevented  any  intercourse — and  whate 
ver  improvement  has  taken  place  in  the  manners  or 
habits  of  these  very  remote  Islanders,  is  peculiar  to 


43 


them — or  it  was  effected  by  a  population  consisting 
of  a  few  thousand.  The  Indian  Islands  and  conti 
nent,  on  the  contrary,  containing  millions  of  inhabi 
tants,  and  holding  an  intercourse  with  the  rest  of 
the  world,  have  improved  and  bettered  their  origi 
nal  habits  or  customs — but  which  anciently  were  pre 
cisely  similar  to  those  of  the  Islanders  of  the  Pacific 
Ocean. 

Though  we  admit  there  is  a  certain  resemblance 
of  the  Islanders  to  one  another,  according  to  the  ac 
count  of  Capt.  Cook  ;  yet  this  is  done  with  certain 
qualifications — and  we  will  shew  that  there  are  seve 
ral  diversities,  and  even  different  races  of  men  exist 
ing  among  the  scattered  Islands  of  this  immense 
Ocean. 

Thus  the  people  of  the  Sandwich  Islands  so  close 
ly  resemble  the  New  Zealanders,  that  notwithstand 
ing  the  distance  between  them  (which  is  upwards  of 
4000  miles,)  both  Captain  Cook  and  Dr.  Pritchard 
suppose  them  a  kindred  race. 

Dr.  Pritchard  observes,  notwithstanding  the  dis 
tance  of  the  Sandwich  Islands  from  New  Zealand, 
there  are  many  reasons  for  believing  that  they  deriv 
ed  their  population  from  that  country,  rather  than 
from  any  of  the  clusters  of  islands  which  are  situa 
ted  more  in  their  vicinity ;  for  in  manners  the  natives 
in  many  respects,  resemble  the  New  Zealanders,  much 
more  than  the  Otaheitans,  or  the  Friendly  Islanders, 
(which  lay  exactly  between  the  Sandwich  Islands  and 
New  Zealand. )*  ( See  Pritchard  on  Man,  291.) 

*  Among  other  facts  which  shew  there  never  had  been  any  communi 
cation  between  the  natives  of  the  Sandwich  Islands  andanv  of  the  hh- 


44 

Again ;  the  circumstance  of  finding  the  people  of 
New  Holland,  Papua,  &c.  black,  and  yet  surrounded 
by  men  of  an  olive,  copper,  or  white  colour,  is  very 
singular.     It  undoubtedly  shows,  that  the  black  co 
lour  of  this  variety  of  our  species  is  of  the  greatest 
antiquity,  for  no  writer  ever  supposed  they  came  from 
Africa  under  existing  circumstances.     Their  being 
found  there  now,  may  be  explained  by  the  supposi 
tion,  that  a  few  families  of  this  colour,  either  by  ac 
cident  or  design,  left  their  more  immediate  kindred, 
and  went  eastward,  along  with  the  children  of  Shem; 
by  the  sinking  of  land  they  were  here  arrested  in 
their  march,  and  confined  to  the  lands  whose  tops  re 
mained  above  the  ocean.     That  they  are  a  different 
race  from  the  other  islanders  of  the  Pacific,  is  clear 
from  their  dissimilarity  not  only  as  it  respects  form 
and  colour,  but  from  the  circumstance  of  their  lan 
guage,  with  the  exception  of  one  or  two  instances, 
having  no  analogy  with  any  other  language  yet  exa 
mined.     See  Nature  and  Art  ^  vol.  ix.  258. 

In  this  same  manner  must  we  account  for  the  peo 
ple  of  Mallicolo ;  the  Nassau,  or  Poggy  Islands ; 
Madagascar ;  the  Island  of  Andaman ;  Island  of 
Tchoka  or  Sagaleen ;  Chica  or  Jesso ;  the  Kurile  Is 
lands  ;  the  Japanese,  and  perhaps  the  Biscayans  and 
Tchutchi. 
Now  to  shew  that  we  have  \\Q\.  fancied  the  people, 

mediate  Southern  Islanders,  is  the  remarkable  one,  that  the  first  men 
tioned  did  not  know  how  to  preserve  the  bread  fruit,  until  they  were 
instructed  by  the  English  under  Capt.  Cook ;  who  had  acquired  this 
knowledge  at  the  Friendly  and  Society  Islands.  See  Cook's  Voyage^  w". 
2050. 


45 

just  enumerated,  to  be  different  from  their  neigh 
bours,  we  will  give  short  extracts  from  good  autho 
rities  as  to  the  fact. 

MALLICOLO. 

On  this  Island  which  is  one  of  the  New  Hebrides, 
Captain  Cook  observes,  "  the  natives  are  unlike  all 
other  Islanders  we  have  met  with,  and  they  speak  a 
different  language."  CooJSs  Voyage,  iii.  599.* 

NASSAU  OR   FOGGY   ISLANDS. 

"  From  the  proximity  of  these  Islands  to  Sumatra, 
which  in  respect  to  them,  may  be  considered  as  a 
continent,  we  should  naturally  expect  to  find  their 
inhabitants  to  be  a  set  of  people  originally  derived 
from  the  Sumatra  stock,  and  look  for  an  affinity  in 
their  language  and  manners ; — but  to  our  no  small 
surprise,  we  find  a  race  of  men  whose  language  is 
totally  different,  and  whose  customs  and  habits  of 
life,  indicate  a  very  distinct  origin,  and  bear  a  strik 
ing  resemblance  to  those  of  the  inhabitants  of  the 
late  discovered  Islands  in  the  great  Pacific  Ocean." 
Asiatic  Researches^  vi.  77. 

The  distance  between  them  and  the  nearest  of  these 
Islands  of  the  Pacific,  is  not  less  than  3500  miles. 

*  It  may  be  observed,  as  a  curious  circumstance,  that  Capt.  Cook  ob 
served  the  Syrinx  or  Pans  pipe,  in  use  among  the  natives  of  this  Island. 

Dr.  Pritchard  observes,  that  the  natives  of  Mallicolo  do  not  differ 
in  so  great  a  degree,  from  the  other  Islanders  of  the  Pacific,  as  Capt. 
Cook  supposed.  But  as  his  reasoning  depends  upon  certain  etymologi 
cal  affinities  between  them  and  the  other  Islanders  of  this  ocean,  per 
haps  it  may  be  just  as  correct  to  adapt  Capt.  Cook's  opinion* 

7 


46 

MADAGASCAR. 

Madagascar  is  inhabited  by  two  different  races  of 
men; — some  tribes  are  of  a  deep  black  colour  with 
crisp  or  woolly  hair,  in  short  they  are  true  negroes  ; 
other  tribes  have  lank  and  smooth  hair,  and  are  taw 
ny  ;  some  are  copper  coloured.  The  affinities  in  their 
language  proves  the  inhabitants  of  Madagascar  to  be 
connected  in  origin  with  some  of  the  natives  of  the 
Indian  Archipelago,  f  Pr it -chard  on  Man^  219. ) 

To  this  I  will  add  the  distance  between  these  two 
kindred  people,  which  is  upwards  of  3600  miles. 

ISLAND  OF  ANDAMAN. 

"  Opposite  to  the  coasts  of  Malacca  is  the  Island 
of  Andaman — the  people  of  this  island  have  woolly 
heads,  and  perfectly  resemble  negroes." — It  has  been 
said  that  they  are  the  descendants  of  a  crew  of  Afri 
cans  which  were  wrecked  upon  this  island.  But 
Pinkerton  shews  the  absurdity  of  this  opinion,  by 
remarking,  that  this  people  are  mentioned,  with  all 
their  peculiarities,  by  Mahometan  travellers  in  the 
ninth  century ; — he  adds  also,  that  it  is  very  difficult 
to  conceive  for  what  purpose  a  cargo  of  slaves  could 
be  steered  in  that  direction,  especially  at  that  early 
period : — he  observes,  "  they  may  be  the  same  race 
with  the  negroes  of  the  Pacific  Islands."  This  is 
very  likely — but  even  in  this  case,  they  are  2800 
miles  distant  from  either  Papua  or  New  Holland* 
(Sec  Pink.  Geog.  ii.  158.> 


47 

ISLANDS  OF   TCHOKA    OR     SAGALEEN,     CHICA   Oil 
JESSO,    .AND   THE   KURILES. 

These  Islanders  are  a  race  of  men  different  from 
the  Japanese,  Chinese,  Kamtshadales  and  Tartars. — 
La  Perotise  considers  it  as  indisputable  that  these 
Islands  have  not  been  peopled  from  the  neighbouring 
parts  of  the  continent,  and  that  their  inhabitants  are 
a  colony  perhaps  even  strangers  to  Asia.  (La  Pe» 
rouse's  Voyage,  ii.  485.^ 

The  Japanese  and  Biscay  a  ns  are  said,  by  Baron 
Humboldt,  and  Rees's  Cyclopaedia,  to  be  different 
nations  from  any  others  surrounding  them.*  (See 
Humboldt' 's  Researches,  octavo,  i.  19.^ 

The  Tchutchi  are  entirely  dissimilar  to  any  of  the 
Asiatics.  (See  Lesseps,  Pallas,  Tooke,  f  Pennant, 
&c.  and  Pink.  Geog.  ii.  43. ) 

These  facts  must  be  considered  as  greatly  strength, 
ening  our  theory. — They  cannot  be  explained  but 
as  we  have  done  in  the  case  of  the  new  Hollanders  ; 
(page  44^  and  neither  could  these  several  tribes  have 

*  "The  Cantabrian,  or  language  of  the  province  of  Biscay,  docs  not 
appear  to  have  any  affinity  with  any  other  known  language,  abating 
some  Spanish  words  which  have  been  adopted  in  it,  for  things  whose 
use  the  Biscayans  were  anciently  unacquainted  with."  See  Jtees's  Cy 
clopaedia. 

f  Mr.  Tooke's  opinion  is  highly  consonant  with  what  we  have  main 
tained  ;  he  remarks,—"  There  is  nothing  more  probable  than  that  this 
nation  is  an  American  colony  ;  perhaps  in  some  great  revolution  of  na 
ture  in  this  our  globe,  a  violent  irruption  of  the  sea  lias  divided  the  con- 
tinent  into  two  parts,  and  formed  that  great  cluster  of  Islands  between 
them,  and  thus  this  tribe  and  that  of  the  Koriacks,  may  have  been  se 
parated  from  their  American  brethren."  Tooke't  Russia,  IIL  163, 


48 

ever  reached  the  Islands  where  they  are  found,  unless 
the  land  afforded  them  a  passage,  which  land  has 
since  been  submerged  or  destroyed. 

We  will  exhibit  this  subject  in  another  point  o 
view,  by  shewing  there  has  been  a  difference  in  know- 
ledge,  and  refinement  among  the  Islanders  of  the  Pa 
cific  Ocean,  which  also  can  be  explained  by  our  hy 
pothesis, — and  which  has  never  been  done  by  an} 
other  opinion. 

The  fact  alluded  to  is,  that  in  Easter  Island  arc 
found  stone  statues  and  monuments,  undoubtedly 
proving  their  erectors  to  have  possessed  a  degree  oi 
refinement  much  superiour  to  any  thing  hitherto  dis 
covered  in  the  isles  of  the  Pacific  sea. 

Capt.  Cook,  who  visited  this  island,  has  given  a 
general  account  of  these  monuments,  and  in  a  man 
ner  sufficiently  interesting  to  induce  us  to  make  an 
extract  of  it. 

"  These  statutes  or  at  least  many  of  them,  are 
erected  on  platforms  which  serve  as  foundations  ;  the 
workmanship  of  them  is  rude,  but  not  bad,  nor  are 
the  features  of  the  face  ill  formed,  the  nose  and  chin 
in  particular,  but  the  ears  long  beyond  proportion, 
and  as  to  the  bodies,  there  is  hardly  any  thing  like  a 
human  figure  about  them. 

"  The  platforms  upon  which  these  gigantic  statues 
are  raised,  are  of  mason- work,  and  some  of  them  are 
30  or  40  feet  long,  12  or  16  broad,  and  from  3  to  12 
in  height.  They  are  built,  or  rather  faced,  with  hewn 
stones  of  a  very  large  size,  and  the  workmanship  is 
not  inferiour  to  the  best  plain  piece  of  masonry  we 


49 

have  in  England.  They  use  no  sort  of  cement,  yet 
the  joints  are  exceedingly  close,  and  the  stones  mor 
ticed  and  tenanted  one  to  another  in  a  very  artful 
manner  ;  the  side  walls  are  not  perpendicular,  but  in- 
clining  a  little  inwards,  in  the  same  manner  that 
breast- works,  &c.  are  built  in  Europe.  Yet  have  not 
all  this  care,  pains  and  sagacity  been  able  to  preserve 
these  curious  structures  from  the  ravages  of  all  de 
vouring  time. 

"  We  could  hardly  conceive  how  these  islanders, 
wholly  unacquainted  with  any  mechanical  power, 
could  raise  such  stupendous  figures,  and  afterwards 
place  the  large  cylindrick  stones  upon  their  heads, 
&c.  But  let  them  have  been  made  and  set  up  by  this, 
or  by  any  other  method,  they  must  have  been  a  work 
of  immense  time,  and  sufficiently  show  the  ingenuity 
and  perseverence  of  the  islanders  in  the  age  in  which 
they  were  built ;  for  the  present  inhabitants  have  most 
certainly  had  no  hand  in  them,  as  they  do  not  even 
repair  the  foundations  of  those  which  are  going  to 
decay.  (Cook's  Voyage  in  1772,  3,  4,  5.  vol.  i. 
294,  et  seqj 

De  la  Peyrouse  measured  one  of  these  statues,  or 
busts,  and  found  it  14  feet  6  inches  high,  and  7  feet 
6  inches  diameter  at  the  shoulders ;  and  he  speaks  of 
others  that  fnust  have  been  of  greater  dimensions. 

A  writer  on  the  Games  of  Palamades,  remarks  of 
these  busts,  that  "  they  are  to  all  intents  obelisks,  as  is 
observable  by  the  bonnet  on  the  head  of  each  being 
the  frustrum  of  a  cone."  (See  Observations  on 
Games  of  Palamades,  p.  92. ) 


50 

Mr*  Bryant  notices  these  statues  as  an  instance  of 
the  astonishing  diffusion  of  one  religious  system  over 
the  earth.  He  attributes  the  invention  of  such  works 
to  the  family  of  Gush,  a  grandson  of  Noah.  (See 
Bryant's  Analysis,  Worship  of  the  Sun.J 

The  explication  of  the  preceding  facts,  is  high 
ly  in  favour  of  the  truth  of  our  theory ;  for  Easter 
Island,  being  the  most  distant  of  all  the  isles  of  the 
Pacific  from  Asia,  and  if  the  present  physical  state  of 
that  sea  is  the  same  as  it  has  been  ever  since  Noah's 
flood,  whence  can  the  inhabitants  of  that  detached 
isle  be  derived,  and  by  what  means  did  they  arrive 
there  ?  If  they  come  from  Asia,  from  Island  to  Is 
land,  we  ought  to  find  similar  monuments  in  New 
Holland,  Society  and  Friendly  Isles,  &c.  But  this  is 
not  the  case,  and  the  same  argument  applies  against 
their  being  immediately  derived  from  any  island  in 
the  Pacific  ocean.  Yet  we  have  shown,  from  the 
authority  of  Mr.  Bryant,  that  these  statues,  have  a 
connexion  and  reference  to  the  inventions  of  the  an 
cient  continental  world.  No  explanation  can  be  giv 
en  unless  in  the  manner  we  formerly  laid  down,  that 
their  ancestors  possessed  a  greater  degree  of  refine 
ment  than  the  ancestors  of  the  other  islanders  though 
of  the  same  tribe,  as  is  evident  from  their  language ; 
and  that  they  were  arrested  in  their  march  by  the 
sinking  of  earth,  and  confined  for  ever  to  an  Island. 
The  reason  they  now  show  no  marks  of  superiority 
over  their  fellow  islanders,  is,  probably  from  the  cir 
cumstance,  that  their  island  has  suffered  exceed 
ingly  by  volcanoes.  Capt.  Cook  says,  it  is  the  most 


51 

barren  island  in  the  Pacific,  and  the  whole  attention 
of  the  present  miserable  inhabitants  must  be  direct 
ed  to  the  means  of  procuring  a  subsistence. 

La  Peyrouse  makes  similar  observations  relative  to 
to  the  barrenness  of  this  Island, —  he  ascribes  it  in 
great  measure  to  the  want  of  fresh  water,  which 
is  so  great,  as  to  oblige  the  natives  to  drink  the  wa 
ter  of  the  ocean. 

From  the  slight  account  given  in  Anson's  voy 
age  respecting  the  Island  of  Tinian, — we  might  al 
so  infer  a  similar  superiority  over  the  neighbouring 
Islanders ; — the  square  pillars  surmounted  by  he  mis* 
pheres,  of  which  he  has  given  a  plate,  appear  to  re 
semble  the  Egyptian  style  of  achitecture,  but  as  I 
have  not  seen  any  other  account  than  the  abovemen- 
tioned  one,  I  cannot  urge  this  fact  further. 

There  are  several  instances  in  America  of  a  mix 
ture  of  different  races  ;  which  can  only  be  explained 
as  we  have  done,  in  page  (39).  The  Esquimaux 
we  have  before  mentioned  as  an  instance ;  and  Dr. 
Robertson,  in  the  notes  to  vol.  ii.  p.  474,  Hist.  Ame 
rica,  observes  that  the  Carribees  are  certainly  a  diffe 
rent  people  from  the  inhabitants  of  the  large  West 
India  islands ;  their  language,  he  says  is  totally  diffe 
rent. 

The  Abbe  Molina  observes, — There  is  a  tribe  of 
Indians  in  the  province  of  Baroa  in  Chili,  whose 
complexions  are  of  a  clear  white  and  red,  without 
any  intermixture  of  the  copper  colour.  (Hist.  Chi 
li,  ii.  4. 


52 

Baron  Humboldt  says  : — In  the  forests  of  Guiana 
especially  near  the  sources  of  the  Orinoco,  are  seve 
ral  tribes  of  a  whitish  complexion,  the  Guiacas,  Gua- 
jaribs,  and  Arigues,  of  whom  several  robust  indivi 
duals  exhibiting  no  symptoms  of  asthenical  malady, 
which  characterises  Albinos, — have  the  appearance 
of  true  Mestizoes.* — Yet  these  tribes  have  never 
mingled  with  Europeans,  and  are  surrounded  with 
other  tribes  of  a  dark  brown  hue.  (Sec  Humboldt , 
Polit.  Essay,  i.  108  J 

Baron  Humboldt  mentions  many  other  diversities 
among  the  American  Indians  ; — we  will  only  intro 
duce  another  instance  as  being  connected  with  some 
opinion  relative  to  the  cause  of  colour ;  and  which 
coming  from  so  learned  and  intelligent  a  writer,  may 
be  well  worthy  of  the  notice  of  those  persons  making 
inquiries  upon  colour. 

«  Under  54°,  10'.  of  N.  lat.  at  Cloak  Bay,  in  the 
midst  of  copper  coloured  Indians  with  small  long 
eyes,  there  is  a  tribe  with  large  eyes,  European  fea 
tures,  and  a  skin  less  dark  than  that  of  our  peasantry ; 
—All  these  facts  tend  to  prove  that  notwithstanding 
the  variety  of  climates,  and  elevations  inhabited  by 
the  different  races  of  men, — nature  never  deviates 
from  the  model,  of  which  she  made  selection  thou 
sands  ofyears  ago."  (Ibid,  i.  109. J 

*  A  Mestizo,  according  to  this  writer  is  the  son  of  a  white  and  a  na 
tive  of  copper  colour :  His  colour  is  almost  a  pure  white,  and  his  skin 
of  a  peculiar  transparency.  If  a  Mestizo  marry  a  white  man,  the  se 
cond  generation  differs  hardly  hi  any  thing  from  the  European  race. 
Humboldt's  Polit.  Essay  ».  183. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

OF  THE  ANIMALS  OF  AMERICA. 

\ ?  E  anticipate  a  question  here  from  the  zoologists, 
why  do  we  not  find  all  the  animals  of  America  in  the 
old  world,  and  vice  versa,  if  we  suppose  they  passed 
by  land  from  the  old  world  to  this.  In  the  first  place, 
let  them  answer  how  is  it,  that  the  genus  sukotyro 
is  confined  to  Asia,  or  the  genera  camelepardalis, 
hippopatamus,  and  hyrax,  are  found  no  where  else 
but  in  Africa, — or  how  is  it,  that  we  do  not  find  the 
polar  bear  with  the  tiger  in  Hindostan  ?  When  these 
questions  are  satisfactorily  answered,  as  good  reasons 
can  be  given  why  there  are  some  animals  in  Ameri 
ca,  which  are  not  known  to  exist  in  the  old  world. 

But  suppose  we  drop  our  opinion  of  a  connecting 
land  between  the  two  continents ;  how  do  you  ima 
gine  animals  reached  America  ?  It  certainly  cannot 
be  supposed  that  the  guannas,  alligator,  monkeys, 
and  other  animals  that  can  only  live  in  the  hottest  parts 
of  America,  marched  up  to  Behring's  Straits,  where 
they  could  only  pass  if  they  went  northwardly.  Do 
you  suppose  the  animals  mentioned  could  endure  a 
cold  that  congeals  spirits  of  wine  ?  for  recollect  the 
theory  that  asserts  they  passed  that  way,  obliges  them 
to  cross  these  straits  by  a  bridge  of  ice  forty  miles 

8 


54 

long,  in  the  winter  season  ;  and  at  a  time  when  all  ve 
getation  is  covered  with  snow,  some  hundreds  of 
miles,  both  on  the  Asiatic  and  American  shores. 

Though  it  is  not  worth  while  to  make  an  inquiry, 
we  will  see  how  they  might  manage  to  pass  south 
wardly  ;  for  if  my  maps  are  correct  there  is  no  other 
way  left.  We  here  see  some  islands  as  stopping  pla 
ces  for  them,  though  it  must  be  confessed  that  some 
of  these  islands  are  situate  no  little  distance  from  one 
another,  for  which  recollect  what  has  been  discussed 
on  the  subject  of  islands.  But  the  monkeys,  opos 
sums,  guanna,  squirrel,  wild  cat,  &c.  do  not  swim  ; 
how  did  they  pass  the  ocean  ?  did  they  come,  Arion 
like,  on  the  backs  of  dolphins,  whales  or  turtles  ?  and 
by  what  wonderful  sagacity  did  they  find  out  Neto" 
Zealand  or  the  Sandwich  Islands,  that  lay  not  only 
hundreds,  but  thousands  of  miles  out  of  their  suppo 
sed  track. 

This  is  ridiculous.  The  opinion  of  St.  Augustine, 
who  supposed  the  angels  carried  them  over,  is  laugh 
ed  at,  when  at  the  same  time  recourse  is  had  to  as 
absurd  a  miracle,  to  support  this  opinion.  And  to 
bring  the  subject  back  to  where  we  started  from,  why 
did  some  leave  the  old  world  entirely,  and  others  not 
come  at  all  ? 

The  circumstance  of  finding  some  animals  peculi 
ar  to  America,  has  been  made  a  most  wonderful  dif 
ficulty  to  explain  ;  and  Dr.  Barton,  to  solve  it,  has 
proposed  a  new  and  separate  creation  for  this  conti 
nent  ;  yet  a  similar  state  of  things  are  observable  in 


55 

almost  every  country  of  the  globe  ;  and  every  square 
of  a  few  hundred  miles  has  animals,  minerals,  See. 
peculiar  to  itself,  or  in  a  greater  or  less  number  than 
has  an  adjoining  tract  of  similar  extent.  Thus  France 
possesses  ten  species  of  quadrupeds  more  than  Great 
Britain  ;  and  yet  Pennant  says,  England  received  her 
animals  from  France,  by  means  of  land  that  once  con 
nected  the  Isles  of  Britain  to  the  continent.  (See 
Pennants  Arct.  Zoology,  vol.  i.  Introduct.  p.  5.J 

But  many  animals  said  to  be  peculiar  to  either  he 
misphere,  may  yet  be  discovered  in  those  countries 
and  situations  in  which  philosophers  have  denied  them 
an  existence.  Thus  the  antelope  and  the  sheep  have 
been  found  in  America,  by  Captains  Lewis  and 
Clark  ;  and  perhaps  when  the  continent  of  Africa, 
and  some  countries  of  which  we  scarcely  know  any 
thing,  are  sufficiently  explored,  we  may  find  the  tapir 
and  glama  there. 

And  of  late,  discoveries  in  zoology  have  been 
made,  which  diminish  the  number  of  animals  said  to 
be  peculiar  to  America.  Thus,  the  sloth,  ant-eater, 
opossum,  Maryland  marmot,  and  some  others,  have 
been  found  in  other  places  than  on  the  continent  of 
America. 


56 


TABLE 

Of  some  Animals  said  to  be  peculiar  to  America,  but  -which  have  been 
found  in  other  Places  than  on  that  Continent. 


NAME. 

WHERE  FOUND. 

AUTHORITY. 

Sloth,     -     -     - 

Ceylon,     -    - 

Pennant's  Hist.  Quad. 

vol  ii.  p.  496. 

Ant-eater,  -    - 

Ceylon,     -    - 

Pennant's  Hist.  Quod. 

vol.  ii.  p.  511. 

Maryland  Marmot, 

Bahama  Islands, 

Pennt.  Arct.  Zoology, 

vol.  i.  Introd.  p.  172. 

New  York  Bat, 

N.  Zealand,   - 

Pennt.  A.  Zool.  vol.  i. 

Int.  p.  174. 

Raccoon,    -    - 

Isles  of  Maria,off 

Pennt.  A.  Zool.  vol.  i. 

Cape  Corientes, 

Int  p.  171. 

Opossum,    -    - 

N.  Zealand,     - 

Cook's  Voyage  in  Re 

solution  and  Adven 

ture,  in  1772-3-4-5  : 

vol.  i.  p.  113. 

Armadillo,    -    - 

Sumatra,    -     . 

Marsden's  Hist,  of  Su 

matra,  p.  94. 

Coyoto,    -    -     - 

N.  Holland,    - 

Compare       Clavigero 

and    Shaws  Zoology. 

8ee  Dingo. 

From  the  table  we  have  just  given,  it  appears,  that 
several  of  the  animals,  once  asserted  to  be  peculiar  to 
America,  have  been  found  in  the  islands  of  the  sea, 
and  at  immense  distances  from  America,  as,  for  in 
stance,  New  Zealand.  Is  it  not  strarge  how  these 
animals  got  to  these  islands  ?  for  they  are  only  found 
in  America,  and  in  these  detached  and  insulated  spots 
of  earth,  and  not  on  the  continent  of  the  old  worfa. 

Must  we  therefore  believe,  that  the  animals  just 
mentioned,  originally  migrated  from  America  to  the 
islands ;  or,  that  they  were  created  in  the  islands  and 
migrated  to  America.  But  if  either  of  these  ways  be 
correct,  why  did  not  these  same  animals  spread  over 


57 

Europe  and  Asia ;  for  in  either  case  it  would  be 
equally  easy  to  go  from  the  islands  to  Asia,  as  it 
would  to  America ;  and  if  they  went  from  this  con 
tinent  to  New  Zealand,  for  instance,  would  it  have 
been  more  difficult  for  them  to  go  from  thence  to 
New  Holland,  and  from  thence  to  one  place  and  ano 
ther,  throughout  Asia :  but  we  find  this  is  not  the 
case ;  therefore,  some  animals  by  their  own  wilt,  or 
instinct,  have  chosen  to  quit  the  old  -world  for  this,  and 
others  equally  unrestrained  chose  to  stay.* 

Again — If  animals  were  carried  by  men  to  these 
islands,  or  even  if  the  animals  swam  there  of  their 
own  accord, — how  can  the  following  fact  be  recon 
ciled  to  either  opinion. 

"  The  Indian  Isles,  even  those  which  are  at  no 
great  distance  from  New  Guinea,— abound  with  ox 
en,  "  buffaloes,  goats,  deer,  hogs,  dogs,  cats  and 
rats  :  in  New  Guinea  however,  none  of  these  quad 
rupeds  are  found,  except  the  hog,  and  dog," — and 
rats  also.  (See  Pr  it  chard  on  Man,  13  5. ) 

Now  surely  if  men  ever  carry  animals  to  desert 
countries,  they  would  carry  the  oxen,  buffaloes, 

*  It  is  laughable  tojee  Buffon,  De  Paw,  and  some  soi  diseint  philoso 
phers,  triumphing  over  us,  because~we  have  no  lions,  tigers,  leopards, 
&c.  as  if  they  were  a  positive  blessing  to  them,  and  that  we  were  suf 
fering  by  this  curious  partiality  of  nature,  in  favour  of  Asia  and  Africa, 
So  quiet  and  peaceably  inclined  are  my  countrymen,  that  we  would, 
tsithntt  a  pang,  give  up  our  rattle  snakes  and  scorpions,  to  the  kings 
and  slaves  of  Europe  ;  and  content  us  with  our  liberty,  and  the  agreea 
ble  reflection,  that  our'happy  country  does  not  support  a  single  animal 
that  by  its  fierceness  is  dangerous  OP  formidable  to  our  industrious 
agriculturists. 


58 

goats,  deer,  hogs, — perhaps  the  dog; — But  we 
find  only  the  hog,  dog,  and  rat,  in  these  Isl 
ands  ; — neither  could  they  have  swam  there,  for  the 
hog  is  notoriously  incapable  of  swimming,  and  the 
rat  can  hardly  be  supposed  to  have  lived  in  an  ocean, 
which  would  prevent  the  crossing  of  oxen  and  buf 
faloes. — From  every  view  of  the  subject  it  appears, 
that  these  animals  have  migrated  to  these  Islands  of 
their  own  accord ;  but  this  they  could  not  have  ac 
complished,  unless  there  had  been  land  over  which 
they  could  walk  ;  and  which  once  reached  from  the 
continent  to  these  islands,  wherever  they  may  be 
found  with  quadrupeds  indigenous  to  them. 

By  a  strange  fatality,  all  the  writers  on  American 
zoology  have  set  down  with  the  prejudice,  that  there 
was  something  peculiarly  strange  and  unaccountable 
in  our  animals ; — they  never  appear  to  have  once 
considered  the  difference,  that  exist  in  the  zoology 
of  any  two  or  three  adjoining  countries  in  the  old 
world  ;  all  the  wonder  was,  why  there  should  be  ani 
mals  found  in  America,  and  not  in  Europe  or  Asia  ? 
There  is  just  as  much  room  for  surprise  and  aston 
ishment,  in  finding  animals  in  South  America,  which 
are  unknown  in  the  United  States,  as  that  there  are 
animals  in  America  taking  it  generally,  which  are  not 
found  elsewhere. 

I  have  taken  some  pains  in  considering  this  sub 
ject,  and  will  endeavour  to  present  the  result  of  some 
inquiries  in  such  a  manner,  that  the  reader  may  be 


59 

able  to  make  a  proper  comparison  between  the  new 
and  old  worlds.  We  shall  also  state  some  examples 
and  illustrations  touching  the  instinct  of  animals; 
which  perhaps  will  be  able  to  remove  the  extraordi 
nary  character  that  our  American  animals  have  re 
ceived  ;  as  well  as  explain  some  apparent  difficulties, 
that  have  arisen  on  the  subject. 

Let  us  begin  these  zoological  enquiries  by  some 
views  of  the  class  MAM  ALIA.  The  number  of  the 
individuals  of  this  class  whose  climates  or  countries 
are  decidedly  known,  amount  to  about  four  hundred 
and  sixty-four.*  (See  Shaw's  Gen.  Zool.J 

Of  this  number  there  are  peculiar  to 

The  remaining  ninety  four 
are  more  or  less  common, 


Asia  -  -  -  115 
Africa  -  -  •  80 
America  -  145 


Europe     -     -     -       16 
f  Australasia  and  7     -\  K 


that  is,    they  are  found  in 
more  than  one  of  these  five 


Polynesia.  \  j-  •  • 

~ great  divisions ;   we  shall 

371  I  notice  them  presendy. 

*  The  total  number  of  the  Class  Mamalia,  is  about  570,— but  of  this 
number,  40  are  whales,  seals,  dolphins,  &c.  which  cannot  come  under 
consideration ;  the  remaining  66  are  land  animals,  but  whose  original 
countries  have  not  been  as  yet  designated,— at  least  not  by  Shaw,  who 
is  my  principal  authority ;-- it  is,  however,  but  of  little  consequence,  as 
this  number  is  composed  of  individuals  of  various  species  of  animals, 
and  has  no  entire  genera  included  in  it. 

f  Australasia,  is  the  Island  of  New  Holland.  Polynesia,  includes  the 
scattered  Islands  through  the  Pacific.  Our  Researches  on  Polynesia,  have 
principally  been  confined  to  the  Sandwich  Islands,  and  the  Marquesas  ; 
and  all  the  other  Islands  east  of  New-Holland,  and  below  the  equator 


60 

These  animals  we  say  are  PECULIAR  to  each  of 
these  geographical  divisions  ;  or  in  other  words,  they 
are  exclusively  found  in  those  divisions*  to  which  we 
have  affixed  the  number. 

Now  instead  of  wondering  why  America  has  ani 
mals  peculiar  to  her  alone  ; — let  the  zoologist  ex 
plain  the  reason,  why  there  are  animals  peculiar  to 
Europe  which  are  not  found  in  Asia  ;  or  peculiar 
to  Asia  and  unknown  to  Africa.  In  this  case  there 
are  no  physical  impediments  to  migration,  there  are 
no  boundless  oceans  to  pass,  there  is  no  deficiency 
of  food,  and  there  are  cold,  temperate,  warm,  or  hot 
countries*  to  travel  in ;  now  what  is  the  reason,  that 
certain  animals  of  the  old  continent,  have  restricted 
themselves  to  particular  portions  of  Asia  or  Africa  ? 

Lord  Kaims,  though  no  naturalist,  observed  long 
ago  : — u  We  learn  from  experience,  that  no  animal 
nor  vegetable  is  equally  fitted  for  every  climate,  and 
from  experience  we  also  learn,  that  there  is  no  ani 
mal  or  vegetable  but  what  is  fitted  for  some  climate; 
where  it  grows  to  perfection." 

Perhaps  this  is  the  best  answer  that  can  be  made 
to  the  question —  PPe  know  it  from  experience.  It  is 
true  that  instinct  directs  animals,  but  so  little  do  we 
know  what  instinct  is,  that  we  have  not  been  able  to 
define  it  yet.  f  We  further  know,  that  there  are  great 
differences  in  climate,  and  even  that  there  are  diflfer- 

•f-  Twixt  that  and  Reason ;  what  a  nice  barrier, 

For  ever  separate,  yet  for  ever  Hear.  POPE, 


61 

ences  in  climates,  which  though  imperceptible  to  our 
feelings,  are  nevertheless  injurious  or  destructive  to 
animals. — Thus  the  celebrated  John  Hunter  could 
not,  with  all  his  care  and  attention,  make  the  Virgi 
nian  opossum  breed  in  England  ;  yet  this  opossum 
is  found  from  Canada  to  Florida,  and  living  equally 
well  and  arriving  to  the  same  perfection  in  either 
place,  or  the  intermediate  country. 

There  is  a  very  great  difference  existing  between 
adjoining  countries,  and  even  under  the  same  paral 
lels  of  latitude.  Mr.  Pennant  observes, 

"  If  England  be  divided  by  a  line  drawn  about 
Lat.  53°,  beyond  this  line  nature  has  allotted  to  the 
northern  part  certain  plants,  which  are  rarely  or  never 
found  to  transgress  that  line  to  the  south  ;"  (these 
plants  make  56  species ;)  he  again  remarks,  that  "  not 
withstanding  none  of  these  plants  are  found  in  Eng 
land,  south  of  the  above  line,  yet  most  of  them  are 
to  be  found  in  very  southern  latitudes  on  the  conti 
nent,  numbers  are  inhabitants  of  Provence,  and  other 
warm  provinces  of  France." 

And  again, — "  almost  every  one  of  these  plants  is 
found  in  a  climate,  very  opposite  to  these  countries, 
bordering  on  the  Mediterranean  sea ;  for  there  is 
scarcely  one  of  the  plants  I  have  enumerated,  which 
is  not  found  in  Sweden,  Lapland,  or  even  Iceland."* 
(See  Sup.  to  Arct.  Zool.  page  4  to  l.J 


4  The  great  differences  that  may  exist  between  the  productions  of  ad 
joining  districts  ; — or  even  farms, — may  be  well  urged  from  the  histo 
ry  of  the  Constantia  vineyard  at  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  and  also  the 
principal  Burgundy  vineyards  of  France. 

9 


62 

Hence  we  see  a  reason,  that  if  there  is  such  a  dif 
ference  between  the  vegetable  productions  of 
England,  there  may  be  just  as  great  differences 
in  the  zoology  of  the  two  divisions ;  for  in 
stance, — If  the  particular  food  of  an  animal 
grows  above  the  53°  of  lat.  and  not  below,  it 
is  not  surprising  that  this  animal  should  be  un 
known  in  those  places,  where  it  cannot  procure 
its  favourite  food. 

What  other  circumstance  will  explain  the  fact, 
that  Pinkerton  introduces — (See  Geog.  L  98 J  : — 

"  The  nightingale,  he  observes,  is  not  found  in 
North  Wales,  nor  any  where  to  the  north  (in  Eng 
land,)  except  about  Doncaster,  where  it  abounds, 
nor  does  it  travel  so  far  west  as  Devonshire  and 
Corn-wall ; — this  limitation  is  remarkable,  as  these 
birds  are  found  in  the  severe  climate  of  Sweden." 

Now  if  these  local  attachments  exist  in  such  small 
divisions  as  England,  France,  or  Sweden,  what  great 
distinctions  must  exist  between  the  grand  divisions 
of  the  earth,  such  as  America,  Asia,  or  Africa. 

We  will  state  this  subject  in  another  light.  The 
country  in  which  the  rattlesnake,  or  that  variety, 
the  Crotalus  Horridus,  is  found,  extends  from  near 
Lake  Champlain  to  Brasil,  from  the  44°  north 
lat.  to  the  Equator, — now  the  country  included  be 
tween  these  paralells  of  latitude,  is  perfectly  dissimi 
lar  in  its  productions,  whether  in  minerals,  vegeta 
bles,  or  insects,  to  any  other  country  on  the  earth, 
under  the  same  latitude,— -or  if,  as  some  philosophers 
assert,  make  the  allowances  that  the  American  cli 
mate  between  the  same  parallels,  with  parts  of  the 


63 

. 

old  continent  are  several  degrees  colder ;  then  take* 
any  climate  in  the  old  world,  and  see  if  there  is  not 
a  perfect  dissimilarity  to  the  American  country,  in 
every  production  of  the  soil,  and  even  constitution  of 
the  soil  itself.  How  ridiculous  then,  if  this  is  the 
fact,  to  wonder  why  America  has  different  animals 
from  the  old  world  ? 

Why  do  we  not  find  the  various  kinds  of  fish, 
which  are  certainly  much  more  abundant  than  ter 
restrial  animals,  in  all  the  different  seas  that  wash  the 
opposite  coasts  of  Europe,  Asia,  Africa,  and  Ameri 
ca  ;  for  the  element  they  live  in,  is  much  less  affec 
ted  by  changes  of  temperature  than  our  atmosphere, 
and  we  cannot  say  there  is  any  difference  in  the  com 
position  of  the  waters  of  the  ocean. 

We  find,  however,  that  some  fish  are  common  to 
two  or  more  continents,  but  the  greater  part  of  them- 
shew  a  certain  local  attachment  to  particular  coasts 
or  latitudes,  out  of  which  they  are  never  or  only 
rarely  found.  Hence,  there  must  be  some  instinct, 
some  unknown  influence,  which  thus  directs  them  to 
those  shores  or  banks,  where  they  may  procure  their 
favourite  food  or  avoid  their  enemies.  Now,  if  these 
observations  are  allowed  to  be  just  in  the  case  offish, 
they  will  certainly  be  more  forcible  in  the  case  of 
terrestrial  animals,  who  evidently  and  certainly  shew 
the  same  predilection  for  particular  lands,  climates, 
and  soils,  as  fish  do  for  particular  shores  and  coasts. 

It  was  observed  in  page  (59,)  that  there  were  nine 
ty-four  individuals  of  the  Class  Mamalia,  which  were 
not  peculiar  to  any  one  of  the  five  great  geographi 
cal  divisions  of  the  earth.  We  will  now  give  a  table 


64 

of  these  animals,  and  shew  by  a  comparison  how 
these  ninety-four  are  shared  among  the  above-men 
tioned  divisions. 

This  will  be  done  by  stating  the  number  of  ani 
mals  common  to  Asia,  for  instance,  and  the  rest 
of  the  world :  common  to  America,  &c.  It  must  be 
premised,  that  some  of  these  animals  are  common  to 
all  of  these  divisions ;  others  common  to  two  or 
three  ;  hence  the  same  animal  is  counted  twice, 
thrice,  &.c.  accordingly.  The  real  number,  however, 
is  no  more  than  ninety-four. 

TABLE 

Of  Animals  of  the  Class  Mamalia,  common  to  either 
of  the  Jive  grand  divisions  of  the  Earth,  and  the 
remaini?2g  four. 

Common  to  ASIA,  and  the  rest  of  the  world,  89 

Do.      to  EUROPE,  &c 51 

Do.       to  AMERICA,  &c 46 

Do.       to  AFRICA, 40 

Do.       to  AUSTRALASIA  &.  POL YNE&I A,  &c.  6 

Though  these  divisions  of  the  earth  are  well  mark 
ed  and  decided  for  geographers,  they  are  by  no 
means  divided  into  climates,  or  into  such  accurate 
divisions,  that  any  one  could  tell  from  a  view  of  the 
country  alone,  whether  he  was  in  Asia  or  Europe, 
or  Asia  and  Africa  :  Thus  the  boundaries  between 
Europe  and  Asia  are  the  Uralian  Mountains,  and  an 
ideal  line.  It  is  utterly  impossible  that  the  peculiar 
climate  or  productions  of  either  Europe  or  Asia,  can 


65 

come  exactly  up  to  the  mountains  or  this  ideal  line, 
and  then  stop  short  all  at  once ;  on  the  contrary, 
many  miles  on  each  side  of  these  boundaries  will  have 
the  same  climate,  the  same  productions,  and  hence 
the  migrations  of  certain  animals,  are  not  limited  to 
either  Europe  or  Asia. 

But  America  is  differently  situated ;  on  the  north, 
migrations  are  prevented  by  impenetrable  snows  and 
cold,  and  on  the  east  and  west,  are  two  immense 
oceans, — of  course,  there  is  no  gradual  transition  of 
climate,  and  productions  between  America  and  any 
other  country  ;  there  are  no  ideal  lines,  our  boun 
daries  are  fixed  by  nature  herself,  and  we  may  say 
without  the  chance  of  mistake,  that  this  is  America, 
and  this  adjoining  is  the  ocean. 

Of  course  this  table  is  not  accurately  just  as  res 
pects  America,  when  her  animals  are  compared  with 
those  divisions  of  the  old  continent, — but  it  cannot 
be  done  better,  if  we  were  to  divide  the  superficial 
extent  of  the  old  continent  into  equal  divisions,  each 
equal  to  America — still  the  very  same  objections 
would  remain. 

But  each  of  these  great  geographical  divisions  has 
certain  peculiarities  which  distinguish  them  from  one 
another ;  that  is,  there  is  a  general  mean,  in  which 
will  be  found  a  difference. 

For  example  ; — Though  Europe  touches  Asia  al 
most  entirely  from  north  to  south,  yet  there  are  but 
twenty-four  quadrupeds  common  to  the  two, — yet 
the  animals  found  in  Europe  alone — adding  those 
common  and  peculiar  together,  amounts  to  sixty- 


66 

seven ;  and  those  found  in  Asia,  adding  in  a  like 
manner,  amount  to  two  hundred  and  four. 

From  this  table  may  be  seen  the  futility  of  the  the 
ory,  that  supposed  a  separate  creation  for  America, 
for  we  see  that  there  are  forty- six  quadrupeds  common 
to  America  and  the  old  world  ;  which  number  is  near 
ly  in  the  same  proportion  to  the  number  of  animals 
common  to  Asia  and  Africa  ;  or  Africa  and  Europe. 

We  have  stated  in  the  table  on  page  (59,)  that 
America  has  a  much  greater  number  of  animals  pe 
culiar  to  her,  than  either  of  the  other  divisions  of  the 
earth ;  this  surely  cannot  excite  surprise,  for  the  su 
perficial  extent  of  America  is  nearly  one-third  great 
er  than  Asia,  the  most  extensive  division  of  the  old 
world. 

Europe,  contains      .     4,456,065  square  miles. 

Asia,     .....  10,768,823     do.     do. 

Africa, 9,654,807     do.     do. 

America,    .     ,     .     .  14,110,374     do.     do. 
N.  B.     The  extent  of  Australasia  and  Polynesia, 
is  unknown. 

Then  of  course,  as  being  of  greater  extent,  Ame 
rica  is  entitled  by  right  to  more  animals  than  either 
of  the  five  divisions  of  the  globe  ;  but  we  have  al 
ready  shewn  other  causes  and  circumstances,  that 
either  prove  or  modify  the  reasons  for  difference. 

AMPHIBIA. 

We  will  now  pass  to  another  class  of  animals, 
which  we  will  exhibit  in  a  different  point  of  view ; — 
this  class  is  the  AMPHIBIA,  consisting  of  the  orders, 


67 

tortoises,  frogs i  lizards,  and  serpents, — these  animals 
are,  in  general,  scattered  over  the  whole  earth, — and 
no  genera  of  them  appears  to  be  peculiar  to  any  of 
the  five  great  divisions  of  the  world  ;  unless  we  ex 
cept  the  crotalus  or  rattle-snake  of  America  ; — Seba, 
indeed,  says,  it  is  found  in  the  East  Indies,  but  late 
observations  have  not  confirmed  his  assertion. 

These  slow  and  creeping  animals  are  introduced 
in  this  place,  with  the  view  of  proving  the  connexion 
that  exists  between  the  AMPHIBIA  of  America  and 
the  old  world. — Those  which  will  be  enumerated, 
are  not  marine; — they  may  in  some  instances  be 
found  in  rivers  or  marshes,  but  any  exposure  to  the 
waters  of  the  ocean  would  be  as  detrimental  to  them, 
as  it  would  be  to  quadrupeds. — The  only  questions 
I  shall  ask  are, — How  did  these  animals  arrive  in 
America  ?  or, — could  they  reach  America  in  any 
other  way,  but  by  means  of  land,  that  once  connect 
ed  the  new  and  old  worlds  together. 

Animals  of  the  class  Amphibia,  common  to  America 
and  various  parts  of  the  old  continent. 

TESTUDO,  or  TORTOISE. 

Geometrical  Tortoise,  I  Asia,  Africa,  and  America. 

Radiated  Tortoise,  |  Madagascar,  and  Jamaica. 

LACERTA,  or  LIZARD. 

Crocodile,*  1  Asia,  Africa,  and  America. 

Guanna,  j  S.  America,  E,  &  W.  Indies* 

Basilisk,  I  Africa,  and  S.  America. 

Monitory  Lizard,  |  S.  America,  and  N.  Holland. 

*  I  can  see  no  difference  between  the  aligator  and  crocodile.. 


68 


Dracena  Lizard, 
Marbled  Lizard, 
Azure  Lizard, 
Striped  Lizard, 
Plica  Lizard, 


S.  America,  &  Indian  Islands. 
East  and  West  Indies. 
S.  America,  and  Africa. 
Africa,  India,  and  S.  America. 
India,  and  South  America. 


OPHIDA,  or  SERPENTS. 


Constrictor  Boa, 
t  Cobra  de  Capello, 
Milk  white  Snake, 
Broad  cheeked  Snake, 
Short  headed  Snake, 
Lozenge  spotted  Snake, 
^Esculapian  Snake, 
Ornamented  Snake 
Angular  Snake, 
Pelia  Snake, 
Aberdeen  slow  Worm. 


Africa,  India,  Indian  Is.  S.  A. 
E.  Indies,  and  South  America. 
E.  Indies,  and  South  America. 
S.  America,  and  E.  Indies. 
Ceylon,  and  Brazil. 
E.  Indies,  and  South  America. 
Italy,  and  South  America. 
W.  Indies,  Ceylon,  and  Java. 
S.  America,  and  East  Indies. 
S.  America,  and  East  Indies. 
Scotland,  and  South  America. 


I  refer  to  Shaw's  Gen.  Zool.  as  my  authority  for 
the  above  statement. 

ORNITHOLOGY. 

I  have  endeavoured  to  present  the  subject  of  zoo 
logy  in  many  points  of  view,  as  being  one  of  the  se 
verest  tests  that  can  be  applied  to  the  truth  of  ©ur 
theory,  and  it  is  not  so  fatiguing  to  the  reader,  as  if 
we  were  to  apply  the  same  set  of  arguments  to  each 
of  the  different  branches  of  zoology  ; — the  intelligent 
reader  will  admit  that  this  could  have  been  done,  had 
we  been  so  inclined. 

I  have  introduced  in  this  zoological  inquiry,  some 
observations  on  ornithology  ;  principally  that  of  Aus 
tralasia  and  Polynesia  ;  this  I  have  done  from  the  be 
lief,  that  no  theorist  has  ever  supposed  that  the  cen 
tre  of  creation  was  in  these  Islands. 


f  According  to  Se,ba.    (See  Shaw's  Gen.  Zoology.} 


69 

On  examining  the  annexed  list  of  birds,  it  will  be 
seen,  that  the  greater  part  of  them  are  of  short  flight ; 
some  that  cannot  fly  at  all ;  and  others  that  can  fly  to 
great  distances ;  but  which  prefer  these  lonely  island^, 
to  either  America  or  the  old  continent.  Now,  of  those 
birds  that  cannot  fly  and  cannot  swim,  or  whose  pow 
ers  of  flight  are  but  of  moderate  calculation,  how  did 
they  get  to  New  Zealand?  or  the  Sandwich  Islands? 
or  to  any  of  the  Islands  in  which  they  are  found  ? — 
And  of  those  who  are  able  to  fly  to  great  distances, 
why  do  they  confine  themselves  to  these  Islands  ex 
clusively  ? 

These  observations  are  not  confined  to  individuals 
of  species  alone  ;  they  include  several  entire  genera. 
Why  have  these  entire  genera  left  the  old  world  ?  or 
why  have  they  not  flown  to  America  ? — These  ques 
tions  can  only  be  answered  as  we  have  already  done. 
Our  readers  must  be  by  this  time  familiar  with  our 
explanations,  and  we  will  not  repeat  them  in  this 
place. 

Table  of  BIRDS  that  cannot  fly  or  swim,  and  which 
are  peculiar  to  certain  Islands. 

The  Galeated  Cassowary,  is  peculiar  and  confined 
to  Java,  Banda,  and  a  few  other  islands  in  the  Indian 
Archipelago.  (Latham  Synopsis,  v.  11,  and  Pen 
nant's  Outlines  of  the  Globe,  iv.  8.J 

The  New  Holland  Cassowary,  is  peculiar  to  that 
Island.  (See  Pennants  Outlines,  as  above.} 

10 


70 

The  Hooded  Dodo,*  Is  peculiar  to  the  Isles  of 
France,  Bourbon,  and  Roderigues,  in  the  Indian 
Ocean  ;  this  heavy  clumsy  bird  is  not  only  incapable 
of  flight,  but  walks  slowly. 

N.  B.  There  may  be  three  species  of  this  bird, 
they  are  however  all  similarly  situated.  (Latham's 
Synopsis,  v.  l.J 

TABLE  of  Entire  Genera  of  BIRDS  peculiar  to  Aus 
tralasia  and  Polynesia,  and  which  are  capable  of 
flight. 


Glaucopis  or  Wattle  Bird, 
Paradise  Birds,  (15  species) 

Scythrops,  or  Channel  Bill, 
Sheath  Bill, 


New  Zealand. 

Solely  confined  to  Papua  or 
New  Guinea,  and  the  small 
neighbouring  islands. 

New  Holland, 
ditto. 


*  Latham,  see  Synopsis  of  Birds,  says,  this  bird  must  be  found  else 
where,  because  the  Portuguese  who  discovered  these  islands  said  there 
were  neither  bird  nor  beast  there.  It  is  really  strange  that  a  naturalist 
should  make  so  groundless  an  assertion.  The  Portuguese  only  meant 
they  did  not  see  any ;  and  even  if  they  had  asserted  there  were  none, 
are  we  to  believe  it ;  did  they  examine  every  part  of  these  islands  prior 
to  making  the  assertion  ;  but  supposing  it  the  fact,  how  did  these  birds 
get  there — who  carried  them  ?  not  the  Portuguese  certainly  ;  or  it  would 
have  been  mentioned ;  at  any  rate  we  would  know  where  it  was  they 
were  first  found,  and  there  would  be  no  ignorance  of  their  real  coun 
try. 


71 


SPECIESO/'BIRDSO/'  moderate  >  or  of  great  powers 
of  flight,  and  which  are  peculiar  to  Australasia  and 
Polynesia. 


Eagles 

two. 

Cockatoo 

four. 

Falcons 

eight. 

fParrot 

three. 

Owls 

two. 

Cuckow 

two. 

Shrikes 

ten. 

Starling 

one. 

Crow 

seven. 

Thrush 

nine. 

Roller 

two. 

Colly 

one. 

Grackle 

seven. 

Grossbeak 

one. 

Hornbill 

one. 

Bunting 

one. 

King  Fisher 

seven. 

Finch 

one. 

Nuthatch 

one. 

Fly  Catcher 

ten. 

*Tody 

two. 

Lark 

one. 

Pom  crops 

two. 

Warbler 

six. 

Bee  Eater 

fifteen. 

Titmouse 

three. 

Creeper 

twenty-nine. 

Swallow 

one. 

Parakeet 

twenty-eight. 

Pigeon 

seven. 

Partridge 

two. 

Tern 

five. 

Bustard 

one. 

Petrel 

five. 

Heron 

four. 

Duck 

six. 

Curlew 

one. 

Penguin 

three. 

Snipe 

one. 

Pelican 

five. 

Plover 

four. 

Tropic  bird 

one. 

Kail 

eight. 

Thus  we  see  that  tfee  instinct  that  first  led  these 
Birds  to  these  Islands.,  also  keeps  them  there — and 
there  is  nothing  peculiar  or  strange  in  it; — this  is 
according  to  the  laws  of  nature,  and  is  the  same  thing 
whether  in  Europe,  Asia,  or  America.  How  this 
instinct  acts  we  will  not  pretend  to  say, — but  there 

*  Buffou  asserted  that  the  whole  genu§,  Tody,  was  peculiar  to  Ame 
rica. 

f  Thus  far  from  Shaw's  General  Zoology.  The  remaining1  part  of 
that  work  not  having  reached  the  United  States,  I  have  supplied  the 
deficiency  from  Latham's  Synopsis  of  Birds,— a  work  many  years  older. 


72 

is  nothing  more  certain  or  wonderful.  Derham,  m 
his  Physico- Astro- Theology,  asks,  how  these  un 
thinking,  untaught  creatures,  should  know  the  pro 
per  time  for  their  passage,  when  to  come  and  when 
to  go? 

In  the  next  place, — that  they  should  know  what  way 
to  steer  their  course,  and  whither  to  go ;  what  instinct 
i$  it  that  teaches  a  poor  foolish  bird  to  venture  over 
vast  tracts  of  land  and  sea. — If  it  be  said  that  by 
their  high  ascent  up  into  the  air,  they  can  see  across 
the  seas,  yet  what  should  teach  them  that  another 
land  is  more  proper  for  the  purpose  than  this ; — *hat 
Britain,  for  instance,  should  afford  them  better  ac 
commodation,  than  Egypt,  than  the  Canaries,  than 
Spain,  or  any  other  of  the  intermediate  countries. — 
(See  Physico  Astro  Theol.  ii.  46. J 

I  will  conclude  these  Ornithological  views,  with 
an  observation  relative  to  a  peculiarity  which  I  think 
may  be  noticed  in  the  birds  of  Australasia  and  Po 
lynesia  ; — this  is  the  considerable  number  that  have 
wattles, — thus  there  are  the  glaucopis,  the  caruncu- 
lated  grackle,  the  wattled  crow,  the  -wattled  bee- 
eater,  wattled  creeper,  wattled  starling,  wattled 
quail,  and  lobated  goose.  The  domestic  poultry, 
though  not  peculiar  to  these  islands,  are,  neverthe 
less,  indiginous — and  we  might,  perhaps,  add  the 
cassowary  to  these  wattled  birds  also. 

ENTOMOLOGY. 

This  class  of  animals  might  also  be  arranged  so  as 
to  support  our  theory,  but  we  think  we  have  already 


73 

exhibited  the  subject  in  so  many  different  points  of 
view,  that  further  illustration  appears  needless. 

The  inert  and  sluggish  nature  of  many  insects  ap- 
pers,  at  first  sight,  to  offer  many  difficulties  to  a  long 
migration.  But  it  must  be  recollected  that  the  great 
er  part  of  these  slow  and  creeping  worms  and  bugs, 
are  merely  in  their  larva  or  crysalis  state ;  and  which, 
in  course  of  time,  change  to  winged  insects — such 
as  the  caterpillar,  which  changes  to  the  butterfly ; — 
many  of  the  aquatic  insects  fly  only  after  nightfall, 
and  will  not  use  their  wings  in  the  day  light; — 
but  I  subjoin  the  order  of  Apter<f^  or  insects  with 
out  wings,  from  Shaw's  Genl.  Zool.  whence  it  will 
be  seen,  that  they  are  very  few  indeed,  and  that  from 
their  habits,  many  of  them  can  be,  and  are  carried  by 
other  animals  whither  they  may  roam. 

ORDER    APTER^E. 

Lepisma,  (Lepisma.) 

Podura,  (Podura.) 

Termes,  (White  Ant,)  the  male  has  wings. 

Pediculus,  (Louse.) 

Pulex,  (Flea.) 

Acarus,  (Mite  and  Tick.) 

Hydrachna,  (Hydrachna.) 

Phalangeum,  (Spiders,  known  by  the  name  of 
long  legs.) 

Aranea,  (Spider.) 

Oniscus,  (Wood-louse.} 

Scolopendra,  ( Centipede?) 

Julus,  (Insects  extremely  similar  to  the  Centi 
pede,  in  their  appearance.) 


74 

From  the  foregoing  Zoological  views  and  expla 
nations,  we  think  the  candid  reader  must  now  admit, 
that  there  is  nothing  uncommon  or  mysterious  in  the 
animals  of  America,  which  may  not  be  equally  well 
applied  to  those  of  Europe  or  Asia.  But  this  is  not 
the  object  for  which  these  inquiries  were  made,  and 
we  think  it  necessary  to  sum  up  in  this  place,  the  ar 
guments  drawn  from  these  Zoological  inquiries,  that 
either  prove,  or  tend  to  prove,  that  land  once  existed 
across  the  great  Pacific  Ocean. 

We  have  shewn,  that  animals,  whether  quadru 
peds  and  certain  birds,  such  as  the  Dodo> 
Ssc.  whose  conformation  restricts  them  to 
the  ground,  and  who  cannot  swim — yet  are 
found  on  islands  very  remote  from  either 
.  continent. 

We  have  shewn  that  there  are  a  number  of  ani 
mals,   such  as  quadrupeds  and  amphibia, 
common  to  America,  and  various  parts  of 
the  old  continent,  that  can  neither  bear  mo 
derate  cold,  and  who  cannot  swim. 
We  can  also  shew,  that  some  animals  can  be 
tracedfrom  the  old  world,  through  the  is 
lands  of  the, Pacific,  and  finally  to  America: 
As  the  black  rat.     (See  Pennants  Arctic  Zoology, 
vol.  i.  Inlrod.  173  J 
So  also  the  mouse.     Ibid. 
We  ajso  see,  that  some  animals  are  found  in  the 
old  world,   and  in  the  islands  of  the  Indian 
and  Pacific  oceans,  which  are  not  known  to 
exist  in  America, 


75 

As  horses,  oxen,  Sec.  in  Europe,  Asia,  and  the  is 
land  of  Java.  Pennant's  Outlines  of  the  Globe,  vol. 
iv.  35,  36.  Chinese  hog,  in  Asia,  New  Guinea,  the 
New  Hebrides,  the  Friendly  Society  Isles,  and  the 
Marquesas.  Pennant's  Hist.  Quad.  vol.  i.  129. 

And  that  some  animals  are  common  to  the  is 
lands  of  the  Indian  and  Pacific  oceans,  and 
America,  which  have  n»t  yet  been  found  in 
the  old  world. 

As  the  sloth,  ant-eater,  opossum,  &c.  as,  (see  our 
table,  page  56.)* 

We  think  we  have  now  proved,  that  a  way  once 
existed,  by  which  men  and  animals  might  pass  to 
America, — and  we  have  also  shewn  they  could  not 
have  reached  this  continent  in  any  other  manner.  We 
will  now  make  an  attempt  to  shew,  at  what  time  this 
condition  of  our  globe  existed, — and  though  a  bold 
undertaking,  hope  we  shall  be  able  to  throw  some 
light  upon  the  subject. 

*  A  question  may  be  here  asked,  why  we  do  not  find,  according-  to 
this  theory,'  a  greater  number  of  animals  in  the  islands,  which  exist 
in  either  hemisphere,  than  the  few  instances  we  have  been  able  to 
show  ?  We  answer,  that  it  would  be  impossible  to  state  what  num 
bers  of  animals  were  destroyed  by  the  submersion  of  land  in  these 
seas ;  nor  can  we  guess  at  the  number  that  may  have  been  saved  on  the 
islands  :  and  as  the  numerous  inhabitants  of  these  islands  support  them 
selves  altogether  by  preying  on  the  weaker  part  of  creation,  they  may 
have  destroyed  whole  species  and  genera,  that  may  have  once  been  nu 
merous  in  those  countries ;  in  this  way  has  the  urus,  wolf,  bear,  wild 
boar,  and  the  beaver,  been  destroyed  in  Great  Britain.  (See  Arctic 
Zoology ,  -vo/.  i,  Introd.  p,  4.) 


76 


CHAPTER  V. 

ON  THE  TIME  IN  WHICH  THE  DESTRUCTION  OF  LAND 
COMMENCED,  &c. 

• 

JLT  does  not  appear  natural  or  probable  to  suppose 
that  this  great  destruction  of  land,  which  we  have  so 
frequently  mentioned,  was  universally  accomplished 
in  a  day, — on  the  contrary,  ages  may  have  elapsed 
during  this  great  work ; — still,  we  think  that  in  some 
cases,  the  destruction  was  great  and  sudden ;  but  it 
is  useless  to  pretend  stating  any  supposed  progress 
or  limitation  to  it. — We  have,  however,  attempted 
to  throw  some  light  on  the  chronology  of  this  event, 
and  have  ventured  to  state  the  time  that  this  destruc 
tion  may  have  began,  or  perhaps  was  at  its  height, — 
the  candid  reader,  however,  must  make  certain  allow 
ances,  for  what  may  be  said  upon  this  chronology. 

A  considerable  time  must  have  elapsed  between 
the  deluge  and  this  destruction  of  land,  in  order  to 
account  for  the  pretty  fair  and  just  allotment  of  ani 
mals,  which  we  find  peculiar  to  the  different  parts  of 
the  earth ;  which  we  have  proved  in  page  59,  to  be 
the  fact; — and  we  must  allow  time  for  the  animals  of 
Noah's  Ark,  to  increase  to  considerable  numbers,  and 
time  to  spread  and  migrate,  to  any  great  distances ; 
for  instance,  to  America. 


77 

The  same  thing  is  involved  by  finding  men  in  these 
very  remote  islands.  (See  our  arguments  on  Island- 
crs.J 

Another  circumstance  that  may  assist  us  in  our 
search  for  the  chronology  of  this  event,  may  be  de 
rived  from  the  explanation  of  a  verse  of  singular  ex 
pression,  in  the  Mosaic  writings  :  "  He  was  called 
Peleg,  for  in  his  days  was  the  earth  divided." — Gen. 
chap.  10.  v.  25. 

The  manner  this  verse  is  explained  in  the  different 
commentaries  on  the  Bible,  is  certainly  incorrect ;  for 
they  confound  it  with  the  events  related  of  the  con 
fusion  of  language  at  Babel.  The  celebrated  Bryant 
was  the  first  who  showed  there  was  an  evident  dis 
tinction  to  be  made  between  the  event  related  of  Pe 
leg,  and  that  of  the  confusion  and  consequent  disper 
sion  of  man  from  the  plain  of  Shinaar.  Though  we 
differ  from  Mr.  Bryant's  ultimate  explanation  of  the 
passage,  relative  to  Peleg,  yet  the  arguments,  by 
which  he  proved  the  verse  in  question,  was  entirely 
distinct  from  the  confusion  at  Babel,  are  so  just,  that, 
as  far  as  they  go,  we  shall  avail  ourselves  of  his  re 
search  and  opinion. 

To  show  the  difference  between  the  event  said  to 
have  happened  in  Peleg's  days,  and  that  of  the  confu 
sion  at  Babel,  he  remarks,  after  mentioning  from  Gen, 
chap,  x: 

In  the  days  of  Peleg  -was  the  earth  divided:  and 
the  sons  of  Noah  "were  distinguished  in  their  genera 
tions,  in  their  nations,  and  by  these  were  the  nations 
divided  in  the  earth,  after  the  flood ;  that  this  is  said 

11 


78' 

to  have  happened,  not  after  the  building  of  the  tower, 
or  confusion  of  speech,  but  after  the  flood.  But  in 
the  history  of  the  confusion  at  Babel,  it  is  said,  "so 
the  Lord  scattered  them  abroad,  from  hence  (i.  e.  from 
the  city  and  tower)  did  the  Lord  scatter  them  abroad," 
certainly  two  different  events. 

Added  to  Mr.  Bryant's  observation,  we  remark, 
that  it  is  the  earth  which  is  said  to  have  been  divided 
in  Peleg's  days ;  in  the  history  of  the  confusion,  it  is 
the  people  who  were  confounded  and  scattered  ;  two 
very  different  relations,  the  one  of  human  beings,  the 
other  of  the  earth. 

The  word  Babel  means  confusion:  the  word  Peleg 
is  translated  sever  and  divide. 

As  the  signification  of  the  word  Peleg  is  of  some 
apparent  advantage,  a  minute  investigation  of  it  will 
be  entered  on. 

According  to  Mr,  Bryant,  the  explanation  is,  to 
sever  and  divide. 

General  Valancey  says  Peleg  means  secare  in  duas 
paries. — (See  Ousely^s  Orient.  Col.  vol.  ii.  332.  J 

From  the  kindness  of  Mr.  Van  VJeck,  of  Nazareth, 
Penn.,  I  am  enabled  to  give  a  more  diffuse  analysis 
of  the  word :  he  wrote  me  that  the  verb  Palag,  from 
which  the  noun  proper  Peleg  is  derived,  signifies,  in 
general,  to  divide  something  into  several  parts;  more 
especially  considered,  it  implies,  in  the  first  place,  to 
part  asunder ,  so  as  to  form  a  passage  for  something 
else,  in  which  sense  it  occurs  in  Job,  xxxviii.  25. 
Secondly,  to  separate  into  different  parts,  "which  re 
move  into  different  directions.  The  noun  itself  con- 


79 

sidered  as  a  common  noun,  for  as  such  it  occurs  in 
various  passages,  signifies  in  general  a  stream,  pro 
perly  of  water,  &c. 

Luther,  in  his  German  translation  of  the  Bible,  has 
rendered  the  passage  under  consideration  thus :  "And 
he  was  called  Peleg,  for  in  his  days  was  the  world  di 
vided."  This,  Mr.  Van  Vleck  considers  as  an  in 
advertence,  as  in  the  parallel  passage,  i  Chron.  i.  19, 
he  has  rendered  it,  the  land  was  divided. 

Dr.  Clarke,  whose  commentaries  on  the  Bible  are 
now  printing,  is  also  of  opinion  that  a  physical  divi 
sion  of  the  earth  is  the  most  probable  explanation. 

From  the  etymology  of  this  word,  and  the  general 
signification  of  the  expression  may  we  not  conclude, 
that  it  has  no  reference  to  a  division  of  men  into  na 
tions,*  or  to  a  political  division  of  the  earth  among 
them,  but  to  a  division  of  the  substance  of  the  earth, 
of  the  world,  a  division  by  which  not  only  continents, 
but  perhaps  the  greater  number  of  ocean  islands  were 
formed. 

Nor  are  we  without  historic  traditions  and  the  opi 
nions  of  learned  men,  to  support  the  idea  :  natural 
causes  greatly  strengthen  it,  and  without  such  an  hy 
pothesis,  many  important  circumstances  are  utterly 

*  The  most  common  interpretation  of  the  division  mentioned  in  Pe- 
leg's  days,  is,  that  Noah  divided  the  earth  into  states  or  kingdoms,  and 
assigned  them  to  each  of  his  immediate  posterity  :••••  this  silly  explana 
tion  long  ago  was  contested  and  disproved  by  Bochart ;  who  thus  states 
his  objections ;  "  Sed  neque  id  capio  satis,  quomodo  potuerit  Noe  inter 
filios  orbem  dividere,  cujus  multo  maxima  pars  nondum  erat  cognita-" 
dicis  Noam  fuisse  prophetam,  et  orbis  singulas  partes,  Dei  revelatione 
sibi  notas  designasse  filiis  ;  sed  Scripturii  taqente.  nostrum  nen  eat  haec 
clivinare,"  (Phalcg,  page  71,  Qiiart»,) 


80 

inexplicable.  What  has  been  said  concerning  Peleg, 
appears  to  be  considerably  strengthened  by  the  obser 
vation  of  an  ingenious  writer,  and  a  fact  related  by 
him.  This  gentleman,  Mr.  P.  Howard,  allows  about 
four  centuries  from  the  deluge,  (see  his  Observations 
on  the  Globe,}  for-  the  accomplishing  some  consider 
able  revolutions  in  the  appearance  of  the  globe.  He 
grounds  this  belief  upon  seeing  that  the  age  of  man 
was  curtailed  two  hundred  years  from  Peleg's  time;* 
which  is  certainly  the  very  probable  consequence  of 
bringing  a  vast  body  of  water  to  the  surface  of  the 
earth,  which  we  suppose  was  occasioned  by  the  sink- 
ing  of  a  great  part  of  the  terrestrial  surface  of  the 
globe.  This  observation  of  Mr.  Howard,  coincides 
with  the  very  point  of  time  that  this  catastrophe  is 
supposed  to  have  taken  place. 

The  Arabians  appear  to  have  a  belief  of  some  great 
convulsions  of  nature  happening  about  this  time — as 
see  their  accounts  of  Salah  and  Houd  (Heber),  the 
cotemporaries  of  Peleg — in  Herbollefs  Bibloth.  Ori 
ent. 

-Bochart  observes,  SELA  Hebrais  emissionem  sig- 
nificat  nempe  aquarum  super  terram,  ut  Job  v.  10, 
emittit  aquas  super  faciem  agrorum.  Itaque  pater 
pius  Arphaxad,  qui  natus  crat  biennio  post  diluvium 
Genes,  xi.  10,  primogenito  suo  videtur  hoc  nomen 
indidisse,  ut  tanhorrend,  judiciimemoriam  refricaret 

*  Ages  of  the  Patriarchs  according  to  the  Septuagint. 


Sliem  lived 
Arphaxad 
Cainan 
Salah 
Eber 

600  years. 
538 
460 
430 
561 

Peleg  lived 
Reu 
Nahon 
Terah 

339  years- 
330 
208 
205 

81 

apud  postcros.  Ita  Enoch  propheta  sumus  cum  pro* 
phetico  spiritu  praevidisset  cladem  illam  filii  mortem 
statim  subsecuturam,  vocavit  ilium  Methusela.  Quo 
nomine  significabat  statim  illo  mortuo  futuram  emis- 
sionem  sive  aquarum  inundationem  in  perniciem 
mundi  totius. — (See  Bochart's  Phaleg,  Chap.  xiii.J 

Bochart  is  not  the  only  one  who  has  given  this 
explanation  to  the  name  of  Methusela ; — Bishop 
Watson  observes, — (see  his  Tracts,  £fc.  i.  73,)  "  It 
is  the  ingenious  conjecture  of  Ainsworth,  that  Methu 
sela  is  a  word  compounded  of  two  Hebrew  words, 
Muth  and  Shalac  ;  one  signifying — he  dieth,  and  the 
other  and  an  emission,  as  much  as  to  say  -when  he 
dieth  there  shall  be  an  emission  or  inundation  of  wa 
ters."* 

If  these  explanations  or  arguments  are  correct,  we 
may  certainly  apply  nearly  the  same  reasoning  to 
Sala :  (who  was  cotemporary  with  Peleg) — and  with 
this  modification ; — that  in  Sala's  case  the  emission  of 
waters — was  not  attended  with  a  destruction  of  all 
mankind; — as  was  in  the  case  of  Methuselah. 

Father  Du  Halde  says,  there  is  in  the  Chinese  an 
nals  an  account  of  a  great  inundation  that  happened 
in  the  reign  of  Yao,  in  whose  time  the  real  history  of 
China  begins,  which  he  says  was  about  two  thousand 
three  hundred  and  fifty-seven  years  before  Christ. 

Again,  in  the  Hindoo  records,  mention  is  made  that 
the  fourth  Menu,  Ta-masa,  derived  his  name  from 
the  universal  darkness  attending  a  flood  that  happen- 

*  Calmet,  Lightfoot,  and  Dr.  Clarke,  also  concur  in  this  explanation. 


82 

ed  in  his  time,  which  is  said  by  the  Asiatic  Society 
to  have  been  two  thousand  four  hundred  and  fifty- 
six  years  before  Christ. f 

Now  Peleg  was  born  two  thousand  six  hundred 
and  thirty  eight  years  before  Christ,  arid  lived  three 
hundred  thirty-nine  years ;  so  the  dates  both  of  the 
Chinese  and  Hindoo  floods  will  fall  during  his  life 
time. 

We  have  now,  from  sufficient  authority,  shown 
the  difference  between  the  .confusion  at  Babel,  and 
the  event  related  of  Peleg ;  and  no  inconsiderable 
argument  has  been  brought  forward  to  prove  what 
that  event  was :  an  attempt  will  be  now  made  to 
show  the  difference  in  point  of  chronology  between 
them,  the  use  of  which  will  be  obvious  in  a  future 
page. 

We  cannot  but  support  the  idea,  that  the  division 
of  the  earth  which  took  place  in  Peleg's  days,  hap 
pened  many  years  after  the  confusion  at  Babel.  It 
is  true,  Peleg's  name  is  mentioned  in  the  chapter 
preceding  the  one  which  relates  the  history  of  Babel ; 

|  This  story  of  an  universal  darkness  does  not  invalidate  the  tradi 
tion  !  We  have  authentick  accounts  of  many  similar  phenomena,  which 
appear  to  be  of  an  electrick  nature.  I  refer  iv.  417,  and  v.  83,  volumes 
of  the  Philosophick  Magazine,  for  further  support.  The  Dry  Fog  of 
3783,  which  spread  over  the  known  parts  of  tke  globe,  and  which  con 
tinued  during  two  entire  months,  was  of  this  kind.  (See  also  Ordinaire 
on  Volcanoes,  page  131.) 

The  deluge  of  Ogyges  was  also  attended  with  a  great  darkness  ;  and 
very  likely  belongs  to  this  very  same  period.  In  choosing  the  chrono 
logy  of  this  event,  I  prefer  that  given  by  "  Varro,  the  most  learned  of 
the  Romans,"  who  states  it  to  have  been  2000  years  before  the  Consul 
ship  of  Hirtius ;  which  was  about  43  years  before  Christ.  (See  Jlcad.~ 
ffes  Inscriptions,  xxocviii.  231.)  • 


83 

but  that  is  of  little  weight  against  our  belief.  Mr, 
Bryant,  in  one  part  of  his  work,  says,  "  Many  things 
recorded  in  Scripture  are  not  introduced  according  to 
precise  method,  and  the  like  is  to  be  found  in  all  wri 
tings  :  thus,  in  Genesis,  an  account  is  given  of  Ca 
naan  in  chapter  ix,  and  his  generation  is  not  related 
until  chapter  x."  We  find  also  that  Nimrod  and 
Ashur  are  said  to  have  built  eight  different  cities,  in 
chapter  x,  yet  the  confusion  at  Babel  is  not  related 
until  chapter  xi :  now,  assuredly,  the  dispersion  must 
have  taken  place  before  they  began  to  build  these  ci 
ties  :  these  examples  are  sufficient  to  prove,  that  ma 
ny  things  are  not  related  in  exact  chronological  order 
in  the  Mosaic  writings,  and  also  show  that  there  is  no 
positive  authority  against  our  supposing  that  the  event 
related  of  Peleg  actually  happened  some  years  after 
the  dispersion  of  mankind  from  the  plain  of  Shinaar. 
He  was  born  two  thousand  six  hundred  and  thirty- 
eight  years  before  Christ,  and  lived  three  hundred 
and  thirty-nine  years ;  -and  as  Moses  only  says  the 
division  happened  in  bis  days,  there  is  great  latitude 
for  conjecture.  We  should  suppose  that  the  expres 
sion  in  his  days,  would  certainly  remove  it  to  a  time 
when  he  was  advanced  in  life,  and  not  at  his  birth : 
therefore,  we  are  inclined  to  place  it  as  late  in  his 
life,  as  is  reasonable  and  possible,  without  forcing  or 
stretching  the  period,  thinking  it  highly  probable 
that  the  confusion  at  Babel  happened  at  or  shortly  af 
ter  his  birth ;  the  division  of  the  earth,  near  his  death, 
making  a  period  of  near  three  hundred  years  between 
the  two  events :  as  may  be  se.en  by  the  following 


84 

Chronological  Table ;  which  is  according  to  the  com 
putation  of  the  Septuagent.  (See  Jackson's  Chrono- 
gical  Antiquities.  J 

B,  C. 

3169— The 


2638 — BIRTH  of  PELEG. 

2623— Dispersion  from  Babel. 

2323 — Physical  division  of  the  earth  according  to 

our  hypothesis. 
2299— PELEG'S  DEATH. 


2097— Birth  of  Abraham,  Sec.  &c.  &c. 


We  think  we  have  proved  in  the  preceding  chap 
ters,  that  a  way  once  existed  whereby  men  and  ani 
mals  might  pass  to  America ;  and  also  shown,  that 
they  could  never  have  reached  this  continent  any 
other  way.  We  will  now  give  as  much  of  their  his 
tory,  &c.  as  may  tend  to  prove  they  did  not  pass 
since  the  early  time  that  we  have  fixed  on,  and  which 
might  be  at  any  time  during  the  space  of  250  or  300 
years  after  the  confusion  of  language  at  Babel.  Some 
may  declare  against  so  early  a  migration  to  America, 
and  say,  that  men  would  never  wander  to  such  im 
mense  distances ;  that  there  must  have  been  a  famine, 
&c.  from  their  numbers  before  they  would  remove. 
These  circumstances  would  be  of  weight  in  after 
times,  but  not  at  the  time  we  have  supposed  it  to  have 
taken  place :  for  we  find  the  building  of  the  tower  of 
Babel  was  stopped,  and  the  race  of  men  scattered 
abroad,  by  the  intervention  of  the  Deity;  and  the 


85 

time  we  have  allowed,  250  or  300  years,  is  surely 
enough  for  families,  by  easy  and  irregular  marches, 
to  have  got  to  America,  the  islands,  and  wherever 
we  now  find  them.  It  is  surprising  what  an  extent 
of  country  a  rude  people  will  wander  over  in  a  short 
time.  Thus  it  is  remarked  in  the  Cyclopaedia,  "  The 
nations  of  America  are  very  much  scattered ;  in  their 
wars,  handfuls  of  men  dispute  countries  of  vast  ex 
tent  ;  their  hostile  parties  are  often  hundreds  of  leagues 
from  one  another ;  but  hundreds  of  leagues  are  nothing 
to  them." 

The  very  circumstance  of  finding  them  almost  uni 
versally  hunters,  may  be  considered  as  a  proof  that 
they  were  from  the  first  a  wandering  people  ;  and  it 
is  most  probable,  that  they  reached  America  roaming 
at  large,  and  supporting  themselves  by  the  chase.* 
We  do  not  say  that  large  bodies  of  men  migrated 
here  ;  there  may  have  been  but  a  few  families,  and 
they  scattered  up  and  down  the  continent. 

Before  we  conclude  this  chapter  it  must  be  observ 
ed,  there  is  every  reason  to  believe,  that  there  was  one 
or  more  small  tribes  in  our  continent  at  that  time,  in- 
feriour  to  none,  left  in  the  old  world,  in  point  of  know 
ledge  and  information ;  this,  however,  will  be  more 
apparent,  when  we  begin  their  general  history  and 
analysis  of  their  institutions,  &cc. 

*  Lord  Kaims  observes,  and  I  believe  with  justice  and  accuracy,  that 
there  is  an  appetite  or  propensity  to  hunting  among  all  men ;  we  ob 
serve  it  in  the  most  civilized  people  of  all  classes,  ranks,  and  ages,  and 
hence  he  infers  the  reason  why  there  was  no  shepherds,  and  very  little 
of  agriculture  observable  among  the  American  Indians ; — for  the  conti 
nent  being  but  thinly  populated,  there  was  an  abundance  of  game  to  be 
procured,  and  while  that  lasted,  we  would  never  find  men  leaving  the 
hunter,  for  the  shepherd,  or  the  agricultural  state. 

12 


86 


CHAPTER  VI. 

PEOPLE  OF  SOUTH  AMERICA,  &c. 

XHE  very  short  history  we  give  of  the  people  of 
America,  is  inserted  principally  to  show  what  ac 
counts  they  give  of  themselves.  At  the  same  time 
it  must  be  acknowledged,  that  these  ancient  stories, 
going  down  accurately  to  a  certain  time,  viz.  the 
confusion  of  language,  and  then  relating  nothing  more 
that  coincides  with  any  ancient  history  of  the  old 
world,  is  a  collateral  argument  of  some  force,  that 
these  nations  must  have  been  separated  at  the  early 
period  we  have  spoken  of,  from  the  old  vyorld. 

The  historical  traditions  of  the  northern  Indians, 
are  so  very  obscure  and  imperfect,  and  our  opportu 
nities  of  getting  information  of  them  by  credible  wri 
ters  so  slight,  that  we  forbear  to  say  any  thing  on 
them.  Of  the  southern,  however,  we  have  a  consi 
derable  knowledge :  and  to  these  Indians  must  we 
principally  have  recourse,  for  the  proofs  of  our  asser 
tions. 

The  works  of  the  Abbe  Clavigero  are  the  principal 
authorities  we  shall  use,  and  generally  in  his  own  lan 
guage  and  arrangement.  He  has  given  many  tradi 
tions  of  the  people  of  America  relative  to  the  deluge, 
and  some  events  soon  after.  For  the  satisfaction  of 


87 

those  who  may  not  be  able  to  see  Clavigero's  works, 
some  of  the  most  striking  accounts  are  given. 

The  Indians  of  Cuba  told  the  Spaniards  that  God 
created  the  heavens,  earth,  &c. ;  and  that  an  old  man 
foreseeing  a  deluge,  with  which  God  intended  punish 
ing  mankind,  built  a  large  canoe,  and  embarked  in  it 
with  his  family  and  many  animals ;  that  when  the  in- 
undation  ceased  he  sent  out  a  raven,  which,  because 
it  found  carrion  to  feed  on,  never  returned.  That 
he  then  sent  out  a  pigeon,  which  soon  returned,  bear 
ing  a  branch  of  hoba  in  its  mouth.  When  the  old 
man  saw  the  earth  was  dry,  he  disembarked,  and  ha 
ving  made  some  wine  of  the  wood  grape,  he  became 
intoxicated  and  fell  asleep.  Whilst  in  that  situation, 
one  of  his  sons  ridiculed  him  ;  the  other  one,  how 
ever,  piously  covered  him.  The  old  man  upon 
awakening,  blessed  one  and  cursed  the  other.  From 
the  latter  they  derived  their  origin. 

The  Chiapanese  say,  that  a  certain  Fotan,  nephew 
of  the  one  who  attempted  erecting  a  building  which 
should  reach  heaven,  and  which  was  the  place  where 
man  received  his  different  languages,  went  by  express 
command  of  the  Deity,  to  people  South  America.* 


*  Let  no  one  say  these  traditions  are  inventions  of  the  priests ;  no 
person  is  more  willing1  than  I  am  to  give  them  credit  for  similar  pieces 
of  ingenuity  ;  but  had  they  been  the  authors  of  these  traditions,  we 
should  have  had  a  great  deal  more  attached  to  them, — they  would  not 
have  known  where  to  leave  off,— besides  we  have  no  account  of  saint 
such  a  one,  or  saint  so  and  so ;  all  this  is  conclusive  evidence  to  me. 
Baron  Humboldt,  in  the  Paris  edition  of  his  works,  gives  thehieroglj- 
phical  representations  of  these  traditions,  and  gives  his  opinion  that 
they  were  the  actual  belief  of  the  Mexicans. 


V  88 

The  traditions  of  other  Indian  nations  differ  incon 
siderably  from  these ;  and  from  this  time  until  their 
discovery,  there  is  no  point  of  history  common  to  them 
and  the  old  world. 

A  concise  account  of  the  principal  people  inhabit 
ing  the  part  of  South  America  which  Clavigero  treats 
of,  may  aid  the  better  understanding  of  the  analysis 
we  propose  shortly  to  make.  The  first  people  he 
notices  are  the  Toltecas.  It  is  pretty  nearly  ascer 
tained,  that  they  arrived  in  Anahuac,  the  country 
around  Mexico,  &c.  about  648  A.  D.  They  had 
been  banished  from  their  own  country,  Huehueta- 
pallan,  which  Clavigero  supposes  to  be  Tollan,  si 
tuated  north-west  from  Mexico.  The  editor  to  Cla- 
vigero's  works  has,  with  considerable  reason,  suppo 
sed  this  country  to  be  the  western  states  of  the  Union. 
However,  the  Toltecas  wandered  about  one  hundred 
years  before  they  came  to  Anahuac.  f  After  some 
inconsiderable  removes  they  built  the  city  of  Tollan, 
or  Tula ;  after  the  name  of  their  native  country. 
This  was  the  most  ancient  city  of  Anahuac,  and  was 
the  capital  of  their  kingdom  ;  which  lasted  three  hun 
dred  and  thirty-four  years ;  during  which  time,  but 
eight  kings  reigned,  which  would  be  a  little  strange, 
did  we  not  know  they  had  a  singular  law  by  which 
their  kings  should  reign  neither  more  nor  less  than  a 
Toltecan  age,  or  fifty-two  years  :  if  he  survived  this 
period  he  was  obliged  to  abdicate  the  throne,  and  if 
he  died  during  the  allotted  time,  the  nobles  govern. 

|  Anahuac,  according  to  Baron  Humboldt,  anciently  extended  be- 
*-een  the  14tb  and  21st  degrees  of  latitude.     (See  Polit,  Essay,  i.  10.) 


89 

ed  in  his  name  for  the  remaining  years.  They  al 
ways  had  lived  in  societies,  under  the  dominion  of 
kings,  and  regular  laws,  and  paid  much  more  atten 
tion  to  the  arts  than  to  the  cultivation  of  arms.  They 
understood  the  art  of  casting  gold  and  silver,  and  ac 
quired  the  greatest  reputation  for  cutting  gems.  They 
were  either  the  inventors  or  reformers  of  that  arrange 
ment  of  time  which  was  afterwards  adopted  by  the 
more  civilized  nations  of  Anahuac  ;  and  which  im 
plies  wonderful  correct  astronomy  and  numerous 
observations.  They  built  the  highest  pyramids  of 
Cholula,  in  honour  of  their  god,  Quetzalcoatl ;  and, 
as  is  probable,  those  famous  ones  of  Teotihuacan,  in 
honour  of  the  sun  and  moon.  During  the  four  cen 
turies  that  their  monarchy  lasted,  they  multiplied 
greatly,  built  large  cities,  &c  ;  but  a  dreadful  famine 
*nd  pestilence  attacking  them,  and  which  nearly  de 
stroyed  them,  put  an  end  to  their  government.  The 
wretched  remains  of  the  Toltecas  went  to  different 
places,  and  settled  among  the  nations  around ;  to 
whom  they  imparted  the  different  kinds  of  know 
ledge  they  possessed. 

After  the  destruction  of  the  Toltecas,  their  country 
lay  desolate  about  one  hundred  years ;  when  the  Che- 
cehmecas  arrived :  they  also  came  from  the  north  : 
their  motives  for  leaving  their  former  country,  Clavi- 
gero  says,  is  uncertain.  These  Checehmecas  were 
much  more  simple  than  the  Toltecas,  and  much  in- 
feriour. 

Eight  years  after  the  Checehmecas  were  establish 
ed,  six  persons,  with  a  respectable  number  of  follow- 


30 

ers,  arrived.  They  also  came  from  the  northern 
parts ;  and  a  few  years  after,  three  princes  arrived 
with  a  great  army  of  the  Acolhuan  nation,  who  for 
merly  lived  near  the  same  place  that  the  last  mention 
ed  emigrants  came  from,  and  also  settled  in  Ana 
huac.  These  were  the  most  cultivated  and  civilized 
of  all  the  nations  since  the  arrival  of  the  Toltecas. 
With  respect  to  other  nations,  settled  in  Anahuac, 
every  thing  is  so  obscure,  that,  Clavigero  says,  after 
long  study  he  was  obliged  to  put  them  aside,  and 
despair  of  ever  seerig  the  obscurity  hanging  over 
them  cleared  away.  However,  he  mentions  that  the 
Olmecas,  Xicallancas,  Chiapanese,  and  some  other 
tribes,  are  by  some  writers  considered  as  ancient  as 
the  Toltecas. 

The  Mexicans  seem  to  have  been  the  last  that  ar 
rived  in  Anahuac.  They  had  the  same  cause  for  mi 
grating  that  the  others  had,  but  what  that  cause  was 
is  unknown.  It  appears  from  Clavigero,  that  they  were 
actually  deliberating  about  changing  their  country, 
when  a  little  bird  in  singing,  used  a  note  resembling 
a  Mexican  word,  which  means  let  us  go.  This 
decided  the  conference,  and  the  Mexicans,  with  six 
other  tribes  or  nations,  set  off  together  in  a  very  cir 
cuitous  route,  until  they  arrived  in  Anahuac.  On  the 
way  they  stopped  several  years  at  different  places,  and 
built  forts,  &c.  At  one  place  where  they  stopped, 
the  six  tribes  left  the  Mexicans  behind  :  (these  were 
the  six  that  arrived  first  among  the  Checehmecas.) 
They  after  some  time  got  to  Checehmeca,  where 


91 

they  were  suffered  to  settle  among  other  nations,  who 
had  migrated  thither. 

The  remaining  history  of  these  nations,  cannot  be 
of  any  use  in  elucidating  our  subject.  We  shall  there, 
fore  pass  them  over;  and,  after  a  short  digression,  pro 
ceed  to  make  some  remarks  upon  their  religion,  arts, 
manners,  customs,  &c. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

ANALYSIS  OF  AMERICAN  INSTITUTIONS,  Sic. 

BEFORE  entering  on  our  analysis  of  American  usa 
ges,  it  may  be  necessary  to  make  a  short  inquiry  as 
to  the  state  and  advancement  of  knowledge,  insti 
tutions,  and  arts,  made  by  man,  previous  to  the  dis 
persion  from  Babel.  The  explanations  we  shall  give, 
as  to  the  religion,  customs,  &c.  of  America,  will  be 
more  clearly  understood  by  such  an  investigation. 

In  the  many  speculations  that  have  been  made  up 
on  the  early  history  of  mankind  ; — we  will  find  it  al 
most  the  universal  opinion, — that  our  species  were 
at  first,  rude,  ignorant,  and  barbarous ;  indeed,  so  far 
has 'this  idea  been  carried,  that  the  greater  part  of 
writers,  both  ancient  and  modern,  have  actually  de 
based  the  human  race  in  their  various  disquisitions 
upon  this  subject. 

By  the  ancient  historians  and  philosophers,  the  first 
men  are  represented  as  living  in  caves,  or  hollow  trees, 
like  beasts  ;  without  clothing,  and  even  without  the 
knowledge  of  speech. — An  accident  having  however 
collected  a  few  together,  they  then  for  the  first  time, 


93 

discovered  the  advantages  that  would  result  from  so 
ciety  and  union  ; — acting  under  this  impression,  they 
associated, — or  perhaps,  what  agrees  letter  with  the 
theory,  they  herded  together  ; — and  by  slow  and  im 
perceptible  improvement,  they  at  last  became  ration 
al,  and  finally  civilized  and  polished  men. 

The  moderns  who  have  amused  themselves  with 
speculating  on  this  subject,  do  not  absolutely  begin 
at  a  brute  state,  like  the  ancient  writers  ; — yet  they 
differ  little  from  them,  by  beginning  with  that  condi 
tion  of  mankind,  which  allows  a  comfortable  subsist 
ence,  and  the  exercise  of  rational  powers ;  and  from 
this  state  is  generally  detailed  the  progress  of  civili 
zation  and  refinement. 

This  state  of  things  commences,  they  say,  with 
the  first  post  diluvian  ages, — in  which  they  represent 
old  Noah  settled  with  his  family,  like  a  respectable 
farmer,  and  with  all  the  simplicity  and  ignorance  of 
one  of  our  backwoodsmen.* — His  descendants  em. 

*  In  despite  of  Dr.  Clarke,  and  various  other  biblical  criticks,  and 
commentators,  I  maintain  that  my  venerable  ancestor,  Noah,  was  ac 
quainted  with  the  use  of  wine  before  the  flood«»-What  did  he  plant  a 
vineyard  for  immediately  after-"*  ?  This  is  one  of  those  trifling-  passa 
ges  that  many  persons  have  given  weight,  by  thinking*  it  necessary  to 
defend  Noah  from  a  charge  of  intemperance ;  and  to  prove  him  inno 
cent,  they  are  willing  he  should  be  considered  a  simpleton.  Dr.  Clarke 
tells  a  story  of  an  Englishman  being  completely  intoxicated,  by  half  a 
pint  of  cider  !  !  !  which  he  considers  as  an  analogous  illustration;  and 
to  make  the  story  fit  the  better,  the  subject  of  it  is  represented  as  not 
knowing  what  cider  was  !««»We  cannot  disbelieve  this  narration,  as  the 
Doctor  was  an  eye  witness  ;»»but  the  story  would  have  been  more  sa 
tisfactory,  if  the  proof  of  the  cider  had  been  given  ;««howevcr,  I  am 
willing  to  compound  this  matter  with  Dr.  Clarke  and  the  theologians  , 
for  if  they  will  admit  that  wine  was  made  and  used  before  the  flood,  I 
v  ill  allow  that  Noah's  intoxication  was  accidental  and  unintentional. 

13 


94 

ployed  as  herdsmen  or  planters ;  increasing  rapidly, 
and  with  their  numbers  their  wants  also  augmenting; 
— from  these  wants,  and  by  the  exertions  of  some 
few  geniuses  that  are  kindly  allowed  them,  the  arts 
and  sciences  are  said  to  take  their  origin,  some  from 
the  necessities  of  our  nature,  and  others  from  con 
templation  and  retirement. 

So  averse  are  most  writers  to  admit  any  know 
ledge  existed  in  the  early  post  diluvian  ages,  that 
those  antiquarians,  and  historians,  who  have  endea 
voured  to  prove  the  contrary,  are  generally  branded 
with  the  names  of  infidel,  and  deist; — the  opprobri 
um  of  these  appellations,  will  not,  however,  deter  me 
from  making  similar  inquiries,  and  of  benefiting  by 
the  readings  and  judgment  of  philosophers,  whether 
scepticks  or  not ;~- they  have  proved  the  fact,  though 
they  may  have  erred  in  the  explanation  of  it. 

But  surely  if  the  commentators  on  the  Bible,  and 
the  criticks,  (generally  contemptible)  who  so  liberally 
pour  out  their  invectives  against  "  romancing  anti 
quarians,  and  deistical  philosophers,"  had  understood 
the  very  Bible  they  so  vehemently  defend,  it  would 
be  seen,  that  both  antiquarians  and  philosophers  had 
great  reason  to  believe  what  they  wrote,  and  that  their 
opinions  when  examined,  contain  not  only  things  un* 
offensive  to  the  Mosaic  writings,  but  also  that  they 
exhibit  very  strong  proofs,  in  support  of  these  very 
books,—- and  which  may  be  seen  in  many  parts  of  this 
Essay. 

But  let  us  return  to  the  consideration  of  our  sub* 
ject  j- — When  we  read  that  the  descendants  of  Cain, 


95 

before  the  deluge,  had  discovered  the  art  of  working 
metals  ;  that  they  had  invented  various  instruments  of 
musick  ;  and  that  they  also  built  and  lived  in  cities t 
it  can  hardly  be  called  a  gratuitous  supposition  to 
believe,  that  numerous  other  arts,  were  either  in  a 
state  of  perfection,  or  advancing  towards  it. 

The  building  of  cities,  alone  infers  a  multitude  of 
arts,  and  the  construction  of  the  harp  and  organ,  not 
only  shews  refinement,  but  requires  great  accuracy, 
great  mechanical  skill  and  ingenuity. 

But  caeteris  paribus  ; — let  us  compare  the  antedi 
luvian  ages,  with  after  ages. — In  point  of  time  the 
first  amounted  to  2257  years  ;*  and  the  numbers  of 
men  far  exceeded  those  at  present, — the  amount  de 
stroyed  by  the  deluge  alone,  is  supposed  to  have  been 
upwards  of  13,743,895,000,000,  (see  Art.  Antedilu 
vian  Cyclopedia,) — whilst,  according  to  the  best  com 
putations,  in  the  year  1800,  the  number  of  our  spe 
cies  then  only  amounted  to  700,500,000.  Now,  with 
the  above  vast  numbers,  and  with  the  world  in  the 
state  that  it  was  first  tenanted  by  man,  it  would 
surely  be  unreasonable  not  to  suppose,  that  some  of 
the  antediluvians  would  be  as  wise  as  any  of  their 
descendants ;— Did  the  arts  owe  their  origin  to  the 
necessities  of  our  nature  ?  The  superiour  numbers 
of  the  antediluvians  certainly  then  gave  them  the  ad 
vantage  over  us. — Did  the  sciences  originate  in  tran 
quillity,  solitude,  or  society  ? — They  had  at  least  equal 

*  According  to  the  Septuagint ;  which  system  of  chronology  is  uni 
versally  used  in  tkis  Essay. 


9$ 

opportunities  with  us.  Or  was  knowledge  imparted 
by  intuition  or  revelation  ?  If  so,  they  had  the  ad 
vantage  over  us ; — for  we  have  no  accounts  that  this 
was  done  to  the  post  diluvians,  and  the  theories  of 
writers  unanimously  deny  it. 

Well  then,  after  thus  inquiring,  we  find  that  there 
is  great  reason  to  infer,  that  the  antediluvians  were 
not  only  as  wise  and  learned  as  ourselves ; — but  it 
might  be  even  said,  that  they  surpassed  us. 

But  the  most  incontestible  proof  of  antediluvian 
knowledge,  is  furnished  by  the  science  of  astrono 
my. — This  fact  is  completely  and  accurately  demon 
strated  by  the  learned  and  ingenious  professor  Play- 
fair,  in  the  second  volume  of  the  Transactions  of  the 
Edinburgh  Society. — This  observation  arises  from 
his  examination  of  the  astronomical  tables  of  the  Bra- 
mins ;  which  he  shews,  coincides  with  the  era  of  the 
Caliy  Youg,*  3102  years  before  Christ.— This  era, 
he  shews,  must  have  been  ascertained  by  actual  ob 
servation  ;  and  to  enable  persons  to  have  made  this 
observation,  a stronomick  knowledge  must  have  been 
sedulously  attended  to  1200  years  earlier,  (that  is, 
1100  years  before  the  deluge. )  The  construction  of 
these  tables,  he  adds,  imply  a  great  knowledge  of 
geometry,  arithnietick,  and  even  of  the  theoretick  parts 
of  astronomy ; — that  those  who  framed  them,  must 


*  See  Appendix  for  account  of  the  Caliy  Youg1,  where  we  have  given 
a  succinct  view  of  the  controversy  that  has  been  carried  on  by  astrono 
mers,  respecting  it. 


97 

have  possessed  a  calculous  equal  to  trigonometry  ; 
and  that,  upon  the  whole,  it  appears  there  existed  at 
that  period,  a  body  of  science  really  astonishing. 

We  will  put  this  subject  in  another  point  of  view, 
by  shewing  some  fragments  of  astronomical  know 
ledge,  that  we  either  know,  or  believe,  to  have  been 
made  since  the  flood; — even  taking  this  for  granted, 
it  will  appear  that  astronomy  was  cultivated,  and  sci- 
entifick  observations  were  made,  at  periods  so  shortly 
after  the  deluge,  that  no  progress  of  the  human  mind 
can  be  supposed  equal  to  the  acquirement  of  such  a 
degree  of  knowledge,  in  so  short  a  space  of  time , 
as  that  between  the  flood  and  the  time  that  these  ob 
servations  iv  ere  made  ;  and  especially  so,  when  we 
are  informed  by  all  writers,  that  astronomy  was  first 
cultivated  by  herdsmen  and  shepherds. 

"  All  the  proofs  that  might  have  fixed  the  rise  of 
astronomy  among  the  Egyptians,  are  lost,"  says  the 
learned  Bailli,  "  except  one  ; — which  is  to  be  found 
in  the  Kallendar  of  Ptolemy,  and  which  seems  to 
have  the  force  of  a  demonstration, — and  that  is  the 
heliacal  rising  of  Sirius,  which  Ptolemy  fixes  at  se 
ven  different  dates — viz.  the  4th,  6th,  22d,  27th,  51st 
and  32d  days,  after  the  summer  solstice  ; — now  the 
earliest  of  these  dates  which  fixes  this  emersion  at  the 
fourth  day  after  the  solstice,  answers,  when  we  con- 
sider  the  climate  of  the  Higher  Egypt,  to  the  year 
2550,  B.  C.— (See  Monthly  Review,  on  Bailtfs 
Hist.  Ast.  liv.  52 1J 

"  It  is  apparent  that  the  astronomy  of  the  Chalde 
ans,  Indians,  and  Chinese,  was  the  result  of  the  ob- 


98 

servations  and  researches  of  a  people  anteriour  to 
them;  who  having  suffered  by  some  great  revolution, 
the  fragments  of  this  knowledge  in  a  shattered  state, 
descended  to  the  Chinese,  Hindoos,  and  Chaldeans. 
Baiili  was  confirmed  in  this  opinion  by  a  circumstance 
of  great  weight,  and  that  is,  among  these  nations  as 
tronomy  has  made  little  or  no  progress,  and  has  not 
advanced  one  step  towards  perfection. 

"  Hence  we  find,"  observes  the  same  author, 
"  among  the  Hindoos,  considerable  numbers  of  pre 
cepts  without  any  explication  ;  and  among  the  Chi* 
nese,  a  number  of  periods  of  which  the  advantages 
were  unknown;  and  which  were  the  unconnected 
remains,  rather  than  the  elements  of  astronomick  sci 
ence,  "f — (See  Monthly  Review,  as  before. J 

When  Alexander  the  Great  took  Babylon,  ( ibout 
326  years  before  Christ,)  Calistines,  on  inquiry  of  the 
priests  of  Belus,  found  that  they  had  a  series  of  astro 
nomick  observations  extending  back  for  a  period  of 
1900  years,  written  or  engraved  on  tiles. — This  ac 
count  is  a  probable  one,  according  to  Long,  the  as 
tronomer, — and  it  carries  us  up  very  near  to  the  pe 
riod  of  the  general  dispersion  of  mankind. — (See 
Maurice's  Anct.  Hist.  Hind.) 

Thus  we  have  shewn,  as  we  before  stated,  that 
scientific/*:  observations  were  made  so  shortly  after  the 

•j-  Though  considerable  exertions  have  been  made  by  the  author  of 
this  Essay,  to  procure  Bailli's  Hist.  Astron.  he  has  never  been  fortu- 
aate  enough  to  accomplish  his  wish  ;»"the  only  opportunity  he  has  had 
tf  benefiting  by  the  learning  and  talents  of  that  great  astronomer,  has 
been  through  the  Monthly  Review,  as  quoted  in  the  text. 


99 

deluge,  that  it  is  an  impossibility  to  suppose  men  ca 
pable  of  making  such  observations  ; — unless  it  was 
done  by  means  of  instruction,  from  antediluvian  re 
search  and  experience. 

The  important  and  useful  art  of  writing,  it  is  high 
ly  probable,  was  known  to  the  antediluvians  ;  and  as 
it  is  so  curious  a  subject,  and  as  there  is  no  impiety 
in  such  an  investigation,  this  subject  shall  be  exa 
mined. 

According  to  the  Chaldeans,  they  were  instructed 
in  the  use  of  letters  by  an  imaginary,  or  symbolical 
being  named  Cannes.  I  say  symbolical,  from  re 
spect  to  Bryant,  who  says  this  Cannes  was  a  type  or 
emblem  of  tfcie  ARK. 

The  Egyptians  said,  letters  were  invented  by  Taut, 
or  Tauth ;  a  divinity,  generally  believed  to  be  the 
same  as  Mercury  ;  and  he  is,  according  to  Bochart, 
and  apparently  with  reason,  the  same  as  Chanaan. 
(See  Phaleg.  Lib.  i.  chap.  2J 

The  Chinese  ascribe  the  origin  of  letters,  to  their 
god  Fo-hi ;  who  is  generally  allowed  to  be  Noah. 

Some  writers,  however,  think  that  letters  were  first 
revealed  to  Moses,  and  the  Jews,  from  Mount  Si 
nai  ;*•  the  grounds  of  this  belief  is  founded  in  the 
idea,  that  if  mankind  had  previously  ki.own  the  use 
of  letters,  they  would  never  have  employed  the  im 
perfect  and  uncertain  means  of  hieroglyphic!*  ;  but 

*  Writing-  in  a  book  is  mentioned  in  Exodus,  xvii.  chap.  14  verse, 
preceding  the  delivery  of  the  law  from  Mount  Sinai.  And  i.lso  Job, 
xxxi.  chap.  33  verse.  For  this  observation  I  am  indebted  to  Judge 
Cooper's  Introductory  Lecture  on  Chemistry.  Page  103. 


100 

we  know  (See  ReeJ  Cyclopedia  J  that  hieroglyphicks 
continued  in  use  among  the  Egyptians,  long  after 
letters  had  been  discovered  ;  and  when  we  under 
stand  the  fact,  that  knowledge  in  those  times  was- 
kept  in  the  custody  of  the  priests,  we  need  not  won 
der  at  the  reasons  that  kept  the  use  of  letters  down, 
and  preferred  hieroglyphicks.  The  ancients  inform 
us  also,  that  letters  or  characters  were  in  use  among 
the  Egyptians,  and  that  they  were  chiefly  used  in 
writing  letters  of  state  ;  and  it  was  hence  called  epis 
tolary  writing.  However,  as  soon  as  letters  became 
more  common,  the  priests,  as  we  might  readily  ex- 
pect,  immediately  invented  a  mysterious  alphabet  for 
their  own  use  ;  which  was  called  sacred  !  and  hiero- 
gramatical. 

Bishop  Warburton,  argues  against  the  idea  that  let 
ters  were  first  revealed  at  Mount  Sinai,  and  says  : 
that  considering  the  importance  of  letters  among  the 
Hebrews,  with  respect  to  the  integrity  of  their  reli 
gion,!  if  God  had  then  been  the  immediate  author  of 
them,  Moses  would  have  recorded  the  history  of 
their  invention  as  the  best  sanction  to  their  use,  and 
best  security  from  the  danger  of  hieroglyphick  writing; 
to  which  this  people,  so  fond  of  Egyptian  manners, 
were  powerfully  inclined.  (See  Divine  Legation  of 
Moses,  ii. 


f  I  do  not  think  there  is  a  stronger  argument  in  support  of  the  au 
thenticity  of  the  Pentateuch,  than  the  fact  of  its  being  originally  writ- 
ten  in  alphabetical  characters  If.  the  priests  had  been  the  inventors  of 
these  books,  they  would  have  wrote  it  in  a  hierogramatical  character, 
or  in  hieroglyphicks,  to  have  kept  the  subject  from  being  understood. 


101 

Sir  Isaac  Newton  was  of  the  opinion,  that  Moses 
was  instructed  in  writing  by  the  Midianites. 

On  this  diversity  of  opinion,  relative  to  the  origin 
and  invention  of  letters,  it  may  be  remarked,  that  no 
other  opiniqn  than  the  one  ascribing  them  to  the  an 
tediluvian,  or  first  postdiluvian  patriarchs,  can  be 
supported  ;  and  though  this  opinion  cannot  be  satis-- 
factorily  demonstrated,  yet  it  is  by  far  the  most  pro 
bable  ;  I  know  of  no  argument  against  it. 

Having  thus  shewn  the  grounds  for  believing  the 
antediluvians  to  have  been  intelligent,  rational,  scien- 
tifick,  and  ingenious  ;  I  shall  now  apply  this  result  to 
explain  a  difficulty  that  has  long  embarrassed  antiqua 
rians,  and  historians,  in  their  speculations  upon  the 
resemblance  of  the  ancient  nations  to  one  another,  in 
point  of  science,  knowledge,  and  religion. 

There  were  eight  persons  who  entered  Noah's 
ark,  all  adults,  and  some  of  them  who  had  lived  two 
or  three  centuries.  We  cannot  suppose  that  they 
forgot  or  disregarded  the  arts  and  conveniences  of 
life,  known  prior  to  the  flood ;  especially,  when  we 
have  already  shewn,  that  they  did  not  forget  the  sci- 
entifick  knowledge  of  that  period.  They  of  course  re 
tained  a  considerable  portion  of  important  and  useful 
knowledge  ;  and  believing  they  were  to  restore  the 
human  race,  and  re-people  the  world,  they  would  as- 
siduously  attend  to  the  preservation  of  knowledge,  if 
they  at  all  resembled  the  intelligent  men  of  this  day, 
and  which  no  doubt  they  did. 

And  we  have  seen  that  the  most  ancient  nations 
refer  the  invention  of  letters  to  their  gods ;  who  ap- 

14 


102 

pear  to  have  been,  originally,  the  first  postdiluvian 
patriarchs.  If  this  is  the  fact,  and  I  see  no  reason  to 
doubt  it,  it  would  be  in  the  power  of  Noah  and  his 
family,  to  retain  and  preserve,  a  great  deal  of  antedi 
luvian  knowledge.  , 

This  knowledge,  preserved  from  the  ruins  of  the 
antediluvian  world,  was  imparted  to  the  posterity  of 
Noah's  family  ;  and  speaking  but  one  language,  un 
til  the  time  of  the  dispersion,  the  facilities  of  acquir 
ing  knowledge  and  information  were  undoubtedly 
great,  and  may  have  been  pretty  universally  diffused 
among  mankind.  During  this  period,  the  depravity 
of  man,  forgetful  of  the  late  awful  catastrophe,  again 
began  to  display  itself ;  and  in  less  than  five  hundred 
years  from  the  time  of  the  deluge,  idolatry  appears 
to  have  acquired  such  an  ascendancy,  that  men  began 
to  make  gods,  and  build  altars  and  temples  to  them. 
The  tower  of  Babel,  is  by  most  commentators,  con 
sidered  in  this  light ;  and  which  is,  I  think,  the  most 
likely  and  probable  explanation.! 

We  have  great  reason,  indeed,  to  infer  this,  from 
the  knowledge  we  have  of  events  afterwards ;  for  we 
find  Belus,  whom  all  agree  was  a  son  of  Ham,  if  not 
Nimrod  himself,  promoting  the  study  of  astrology, 
(or  superstition)  in  order  to  encourage  a  faith  in  pre 
dictions,  which  he  knew  how  to  apply  to  political  pur 
poses.  (See  Rees's  Cyclopedia,  Art.  Belus. J 

I  It  might  be  also  a  mark  or  beacon,  a  sign  or  name,  or  an  astronomi 
cal  observatory ;  as  we  well  know  the  ancient  temples  of  Egypt,  Chal- 
dea,  Hindostan,  and  Mexico,  were  applied  to  similar  and  various  other 
purposes. 


103 

The  establishment  of  idolatry  in  Babylon  after 
wards,  and  the  worship  of  Beius  in  this  very  tower  of 
Babel,  must  be  considered  as  a  collateral  argument 
of  some  weight. 

The  principles  of  this  ancient  idolatry,  most  proba 
bly  were  founded  in  a  rational  Theism  ;  at  least  it  is 
reasonable  to  think  so  from  the  sacred  writings  of 
the  Hindoos,  Persians,  Chinese,  and  even  the  Mexi 
cans  and  Peruvians ;  which  all  contain  many  pure. 
moral  inculcations.  The  grossness  observable  in 
more  modern  idolatry,  appears  to  have  been  the  com 
bined  result  of  artifice,  superstition,  alegorical  cere 
mony,  but  principally  from  slavery ;  that  is,  religion 
and  superstition  were  employed  as  the  engines  of  ty 
ranny  and  usurpation.  Pope,  has  detailed  the  pro 
gress  of  despotism  and  superstitition,  so  exactly  with 
my  views,  that  I  have  introduced  the  extract  in  a 
note,  as  an  illustration.* 

*  Force  first  made  conquest,  and  that  conquest,  law, 
THEN  superstition  taught  the  tyrant  awe, 
Then  shared  the  tyranny,  then  lent  it  aid, 
And  gods  of  conqu'rors,  slaves  of  subjects  made: 
She  'midst  the  light'ning's  blaze,  and  thunder's  sound, 
When  rock'd  the  mountains,  and  when  groan'd  the  ground, 
She  taught  the  weak  to  bend,  the  proud  to  pray 
To  powers  unseen,  and  mightier  far  than  they  : 
She  from  the  rending  earth,  and  bursting  skies, 
Saw  gods  descend,  and  fiends  infernal  rise  : 
Here  fixed  the  dreadful,  there  the  blest  abodes, 
Fear  made  her  devils,  and  weak  hope  her  gods  ; 
Gods  partial,  changeful,  passionate,  unjust, 
Whose  attributes  were  rage,  revenge,  or  lust ; 
Such  as  the  souls  of  cowards  might  conceive, 
And  form'd  like  tyrants,  tyrants  would  believe. 


104 

The  reader  is  considered  as  now  being  prepared 
for  the  following  opinion,  viz  : — That  prior  to  the 
dispersion,  the  adoration  of  the  heavenly  bodies,  and 
the  deification  of  men  had  commenced ;  and  that 
about  the  time  of  the  building  of  the  tower  of  Babel, 
there  was  a  tolerably  regular  form  of  idolatrous  wor 
ship  established  among  mankind  ;  the  striking  prin 
ciples  of  which  were  the  foundation  aftenvards,  of 
the  religious  systems  of  Chaldea,  Persia,  Egypt,  Hin- 
dostan,  Mexico,  &.c.  and  in  fact  of  all  the  world. 

This  opinion  will  not  seem  so  hypothetical,  when 
it  is  known  to  be  a  certain  fact,  that  the  ground  work 
of  the  different  systems  of  idolatry,  of  ancient  know 
ledge,  or  of  ancient  institutions,  is  the  same  through 
out  the  world,  notwithstanding  the  many  circumstan 
ces  that  might  induce  us  to  think  the  contrary ;  such 
as  the  distances  between  many  nations,  or  their  self 
pride,  or  contempt  of  one  another.* 

Zeal  then,  not  charity,  became  the  guide 
And  hell  was  built  on  spite,  and  heaven  on  pride. 
Then  sacred  seem'd  th*  etherial  vault  no  more  ; 
Altars  grew  marble  then,  and  reek'd  with  gere  : 
Then  first  the  Flamen  tasted  living  food ; 
Next  his  grim  idol  smear'd  with  human  blood ; 
With  heaven's  own  thunders  shook  the  world  below. 
And  play'd  the  god  an  engine  on  his  foe. 

Essay  on  Man,  Epist.  3d,  line  245. 

*  In  proof  that  a  great  and  striking  similarity  does  exist  between  the 
religion  of  most  nations,  reference  is  given  to  Bryant's  Analysis  of  An 
cient  Mythology,  Asiatic  Researches,  Valancy's  History  of  Ireland, 
Maurice's  Indian  Antiquities,  La  Mythologie  Comparee,  avec  L'His- 
toire,  Sir  William  Jones'  Works,  Ousely's  Oriental  Collections,  Gra 
ham's  Letters  on  India,  Mallet's  Northern  Antiquities,  Des  Cultes  An- 
terieur  a  L'Idolatrie,  Vallancey'*  Irish  Grammar,  Humboldt's  Re- 


105 

When  we  find  a  people  with  some  of  the  ideas,  cus 
toms  and  religious  ceremonies  of  Egypt,  with  some 
mysteries  thought  peculiar  to  India,  and  some  of  the 
superstitions  of  Persia,  &c.  blended  together  with 
others  common  to  all,  and  some  entirely  novel  to 
them,  we  can  hardly  carry  credulity  so  far  as  to  sup 
pose  all  these  different  nations  aided  in  forming  those, 
whom  they  are  utterly  ignorant  of,  and  when  nature 
herself  has  placed,  in  some  points,  an  insurmountable 
^  barrier  between. 

This  resemblance  of  nation  to  nation,  has  seemed 
inexplicable.  Authors,  in  their  attempts  to  account 
for  it,  have  attributed  all  knowledge,  institutions,  and 
inventions,  to  one  people,  and  deriving  the  informa 
tion  of  other  nations  from  them.  Hence  lord  Bacon's 
idea,  that  the  Persians,  Egyptians,  Phoenicians,  &c. 
had  received  their  knowledge  from  some  nation  an- 
teriour  to  them.  And  we  have  seen  numberless  at 
tempts,  that  have  been  made  to  prove  all  learning  and 
knowledge  emanated  from  Ghaldea,  or  Phoenicia,  or 
Egypt,  or  any  country,  which  learning  or  prejudice 
chose  to  support,  f 

searches,  &c.  &c.— and  as  further  proof  of  the  fact,  we  well  know  that 
the  Romans  found  their  gods  under  different  names,  in  every  country 
they  visited;  hence  they  said— this  is  the  Gaulish  Mars— this  the  Ty- 
rian  Hercules— this  the  Sidonian  Venus,  &c. 

f  The  attempts  that  have  been  made  by  philosophers  to  account  for 
the  similarity  of  knowledge  existing  between  different  parts  of  the 
world,  and  tlieir  attempts  to  trace  the  nation  diffusing  this  informa 
tion,  have  been  so  numerous,  so  hypothetical,  and  unsatisfactory,  that 
no  clearer  proof  can  be  given  of  the  futility  of  such  attempts,  than  their 
great  number,  many  as  ridiculous  as  the  burlesque  account  of  the  mon- 
kies  in  Swift's  and  Pope's  Miscellanies. 


106 

The  celebrated  Bailli  supposed  that  a  race  of  Tar 
tars  in  Asia,  were  the  inventors  of  almost  every  thing 
learned  or  useful,  and  that  through  them  it  was  im 
parted  to  the  rest  of  the  world. 

There  is  a  work  in  French,  entitled  Histoire  des 
Hommes,  which  gives  the  honour  of  all  these  discove 
ries  or  inventions  to  a  race  called  Atlantians,  of  whom 
we  scarce  know  more  than  their  name. 

It  has  been  supposed  that  Hindostan  furnished  the 
rest  of  the  world  with  this  knowledge  and  learning, 
from  the  great  reputation  in  which  the  bramins  of 
India  were  held  by  the  sages  of  Greece  or  Rome. — 
This  opinion  is  indirectly  supported  in  that  very  va 
luable  work,  the  Asiatic  Researches. 

The  very  learned  Bryant  has  given  the  world  a  large 
and  erudite  work  on  this  subject,  in  which  he  ascribes 
to  the  family  of  Cush  the  invention  of  ancient  religion, 
arts,  and  general  science. 

In  all  these  opinions,  however,  there  is  so  much 
improbability,  that  we  cannot  give  our  assent  to  any 
one.  The  idea  of  one  family  or  nation  travelling  over 
the  widely  extended  countries  of  the  earth,  teaching 
and  instructing  mankind  in  every  thing  respecting 
religion,  arts,  &c.  is  not  only  improbable,  but  impos 
sible.  Had  this  ever  been  the  case,  we  should  have 
positive  and  certain  information  of  it ;  we  should  also 
find  a  resemblance  not  in  the  act,  idea,  and  perform 
ance,  only,  but  in  the  name,  and  especially  in  techni 
cals.  But  we  find  mankind  universally  referring  the 
inventors  of  arts,  science,  and  knowledge,  to  those 
ages  shortly  after  the  deluge,  remounting  to  the  great- 


107 

est  antiquity,  and  thus  proving  the  impossibility  of 
any  one  people  either  acquiring  or  being  able  to  in 
struct  mankind  in  so  short  a  time. 

Taking  the  same  liberty  with  the  subject  that  other 
writers  have  done,  and  on  which  the  learned  may  de 
cide,  we  suppose,  that  a  regular  system  of  idolatry, 
and  a  considerable  degree  of  knowledge  in  science, 
and  arts,  was  known,  and  was  common  to  mankind, 
previous  to  their  dispersion*  from  Babel :  and  the 
further  we  proceed  in  our  intended  analysis,  the  more 
reason  will  be  seen  for  maintaining  this  opinion. 

We  do  not  pretend  to  say,  that  a  nation  never  bor 
rowed  religious  rites,  customs,  Sec.  from  other  na 
tions  ;  far  from  it ;  it  is  only  said,  that  they  did  not 
borrow  the  fundamental  and  leading  principles  of 
their  manners,  habits,  or  religious  institutions,  from 
one  another. 

Pursuing  our  subject :  when  the  Almighty  con 
founded  the  language  of  mankind  at  Babel,  and  obli 
ged  them  to  scatter  over  the  earth,  the  same  ideas  of 
religion,  the  same  arts,  knowledge,  manners,  &c.  were 
common  to  all ;  and  these  were  carried  to  the  differ 
ent  parts  of  the  world,  to  which  providence  directed 
particular  tribes  or  families. 

By  this  opinion  we  shall  be  able  to  account  for  the 
fact  admitted  by  Baron  Humboldt  and  others — and 


*  Since  the  first  edition  of  this  Essay  was  printed,  I  have  met  with 
General  Valancey's  Irish  Grammar,  in  which  I  have  found,  that  Doctor 
Borlase,  in  a  History  of  Cornwall,  which  I  have  never  seen,  accounts 
for  the  diffusion  of  knowledge  among  mankind,  almost  precisely  on  the 
system  we  have  maintained  in  this  Esgay. 


108 

which,  hitherto,  has  been  deemed  inexplicable.  "  If 
we  go  back  to  the  early  ages,"  says  Baron  H.  "  His 
tory  marks  several  central  points  of  civilization  ;  of 
the  mutual  relations  of  which,  we  are  ignorant,  such 
as  Meroe  in  Egypt,  the  Banks  of  the  Euphrates, 
Hinclostan,  and  China."  (See  Humboldt* s  Research 
es*  octavo,  i.  48. ) — We  will  hereafter  prove,  that 
America  is  similarly  situated,  with  respect  to  these 
ancient  centres  of  civilization  ; — for  the  present  we 
will  give  Baron  Humboldt's  authority  as  to  the  fact, 

"  We  are  astonished  to  find,  that  towards  the  end 
of  the  fifteenth  century,  in  a  world  which  we  call  new, 
ancient  institutions,  religious  ideas,  and  forms  of  edi 
fices,  similar  to  those  in  Asia,  which  there  seem  to 
go  back  to  the  dawn  of  civilization." — (Humboldt^s 
Introd*  to  the  Descnp.  of  the  Monuments  of  America, 
page  \stj 

It  is  singular,  that  sir  William  Jones  did  not  use 
this  theory  in  accounting  for  this  similarity  in  reli 
gion,  learning,  &c.  observable  in  so  many  diffused  na 
tions  of  the  earth.  He  was  embarrassed  how  to  ex 
plain  the  fact,  and  yet  has  this  remarkable  sentence  in 
his  essay :  "  That  the  Hindoos,  Old  Persians,  Ethio 
pians,  Egyptians,  Phoenicians,  Greeks,  Tuscans,  Scy 
thians  or  Goths,  Celts,  Chinese,  Japanese,  and  Peru 
vians,  had  an  immemorial  connexion  with  one  ano 
ther  ;  and  as  there  appears  no  reason  for  believing 
that  they  were  a  colony  from  any  one  of  those  nations, 
or  any  one  of  those  nations  from  them,  we  may  fair 
ly  conclude  that  they  all  proceeded  from  the  same 


109 

common  central  country."  (See  Asiatic  Researches, 
vol.  i.  430.  J 

This  common  central  country,  he  thinks,  was 
IRAN  or  PERSIA  ;  which  he  considers  as  compre 
hending  Chaldea,  Assyria,  Persia,  and  the  greater 
part  of  lesser  Asia. 

It  may  be  asked,  why  then  do  nations  differ  so 
much  in  their  religious  systems,  if  having  one  com 
mon  origin.  It  is  answered,  that  as  idolatrous  wor 
ship  is  taken  almost  wholly  from  objects  before  our 
eyes,  when  we  remove  to  other  situations,  where  we 
have  not  those  appearances,  and  objects,  that  gave 
rise  to  particular  customs,  we  endeavour  to  suit  them 
to  the  present  face  of  things,  or  some  would  drop  them 
entirely,  others  would  retain  them,  though  they  for 
got  to  what  superstition  they  arose  from.  The  ob 
servance  of  particular  phenomena,  in  some  countries, 
would  give  rise  to  some  additions  in  their  worship. 

But  on  a  minute  inquiry,  we  do  not  find  a  great  or 
material  difference  in  point  of  religion,  &c.  and  the 
more  we  search  into  the  subject,  the  truth  of  what 
we  have  advanced,  as  to  their  being  of  one  common 
origin,  will  be  the  more  apparent. 

We  will  conclude  this  part  of  our  dissertation,  with 
an  observation  of  Lord  Kaims  upon  the  effect,  that 
the  confusion  of  speech  and  dispersion  from  Babel, 
had  upon  mankind. 

"  That  deplorable  event,"  he  observes,  "  reversed 
all  nature,  by  scattering  men  over  the  face  of  the 
earth,  it  deprived  them  of  society,  and  rendered  them 
savage.  From  that  state  of  degeneracy  they  have 

15 


110 

been  emerging  gradually. — Some  nations  stimulated 
by  their  own  nature,  or  by  their  climate,  have  made 
a  rapid  progress ;  some  have  proceeded  more  slowly, 
and  some  continue  savages."* — (See  Sketches  of  the 
Hist,  of  Man,  i.  83  J 

*  And  if  one  nation  or  people  possessed  or  retained  more  knowledge, 
learned  men,  or  even  priests,  than  another  tribe  or  nation ; — we  at  once 
perceive  another  cause  for  the  difference  in  degree  of  knowledge  be 
tween  nations,  when  history  first  presented  her  page  to  the  worl^L 


Ill 


CHAPTER  VIII. 


ON  THE  MEXICAN  RELIGION. 

J.T  is  observable  in  the  history  of  mankind,  as  well 
the  refined,  as  the  more  rude  and  unpolished,  that 
whilst  their  government,  science,  and  arts,  are  chang 
ing  or  improving,  that  we  still  find  them  bigotedly 
adhering  to  the  religious  superstitions  taught  them 
through  their  ancestors.  In  all  researches  like  the 
present,  the  religion  of  a  nation  is  of  the  greatest  mo 
ment,  and  more  important  conclusions  may  be  drawn 
from  that  source  than  from  any  other ;  on  this  ac 
count,  we  shall  consider  it  in  the  first  place. 

The  Mexicans  had  some  ideas  of  a  supreme  God, 
absolute  and  independent,  whom  they  regarded  with 
fear  and  adoration  ;  they  did  not  represent  him  by 
any  visible  form ;  calling  him  Teotl,  or  God,  to 
whom  they  applied  expressions  highly  charactcristick 
of  his  nature. 

They  also  believed  in  an  evil  spirit,  whom  they 
called  Tlacatecolotl,  or  rational  owl. 

They  nad  three  places  for  the  souls  of  departed 
mortals :  those  who  died  in  battle,  or  in  captivity  with 


112 

enemies,  and  women  in  labour,  went  to  the  house  of 
the  sun,  where  they  led  a  life  of  unbounded  delight 
and  pleasure.  They  supposed  that  after  four  years 
had  passed  in  this  happy  state,  the  souls  then  went  to 
animate  clouds,  and  birds  of  beautiful  feather.  The 
Tlasca]ans  believed  the  souls  of  persons  of  rank  te 
nanted  the  bodies  of  nobler  animals,  than  those  of  the 
plebeians,  who  were  supposed  to  pass  into  weasels, 
beetles,  and  the  more  insignificant  animals. 

Those  who  were  drowned,  struck  'by  lightning, 
died  of  dropsy,  tumours,  &c.  went  along  with  the 
souls  of  children,  at  least  those  sacrificed  to  Tlaloc, 
(god  of  water,)  to  a  cool  and  delightful  place,  called 
Tlalocan,  where  that  god  resided,  and  where  they 
were  to  enjoy  the  most  delicious  repasts,  with  every 
other  kind  of  pleasure  and  gratification. 

The  third  place,  allotted  for  the  souls  of  those  whe 
suffered  any  other  kind  of  death,  was  called  Mictlan, 
or  hell ;  which  they  supposed  was  a  place  of  utter 
darkness  in  the  north,  or,  as  others  say,  in  the  centre 
of  the  earth. 

The  most  striking  part  of  this  belief  is  the  me 
tempsychosis  ;  which  doctrine,  we  have  rea 
son  to  think,  is  of  very  great  antiquity ;  for 
Maurice  says,  from  the  Ayeen  Akbery,  that 
it  can  be  found  in  the  earliest  writings  of  the 
Hindoos,  which  are  as  old  as  the  Pentateuch 
of  Moses. 

Transmigration  of  souls  was  also  taught  by  the 
Druids  of  Great  Britain. 


113 

The  Persians  and  Egyptians  also  taught  this  doc 
trine. 

The  Otaheitans  had  a  kind  of  Paradise  very  much 
•  resembling  the  Tlalocan  of  the  Mexicans — 
for  they  said  that  those  persons  who  are 
drowned  in  the  sea,  remain  there, — where 
they  think  is  a  fine  country,  and  every  thing 
that  can  make  them  happy. — (See  Cook's 
Voyage,  v.  1648  J 

The  Mexicans  had  thirteen  principal  deities,  to 
whom  they  consecrated  that  number.  We  will  give 
an  account  of  the  principal  gods,  in  their  proper  rank 
and  order,  as  is  detailed  by  Clavigero. 

TEZCATLIPOCA, 

Was  the  greatest  divinity  adored  in  these  countries^, 
after  the  invisible  God,  Teotl.  His  name  means  shi 
ning  mirrour,  from  one  that  was  affixed  to  his  image. 
He  was  the  god  of  providence,  the  soul  of  the  world, 
creator  of  heaven  and  earth,  and  master  of  all  things. 
They  represented  him  always  young,  to  denote  that 
no  length  of  time  ever  diminished  his  power.  They 
believed  he  rewarded  or  punished  men,  according  to 
their  merits.  They  placed  stone  seats  at  the  corners 
of  streets,  for  him  to  rest  upon,  on  which  no  one  was 
allowed  to  sit.  It  was  said  that  he  descended  from 
heaven,  by  a  rope  made  of  spider's  web.  His  image 
made  of  teotl,  or  divine  stone,  (a  black  and  shi 
ning  stone,)  was  richly  dressed,  adorned  with  gold 
ear-rings,  and  from  the  under  lip  hung  a  crystal  tube. 


114 

within  which  was  a  green  feather,  or  a  turquoise  stone : 
his  hair  was  tied  with  a  gold  string,  from  the  end  of 
which  hung  the  figure  of  an  ear,  made  of  the  same 
metal,  with  the  appearance  of  smoke  painted  on  it, 
by  which  they  intended  to  represent  the  prayers  of  the 
distressed :  the  whole  breast  was  covered  with  gold ; 
upon  both  arms  were  bracelets  of  gold ;  an  emerald 
in  the  navel ;  and  in  his  left  hand  a  golden  fan,  set 
round  with  beautiful  feathers,  and  polished  like  a  mir- 
rour,  in  which  they  imagined  he  saw  every  thing  that 
happened  in  the  world.  At  other  times,  to  denote 
his  justice,  they  represented  him  sitting  on  a  bench, 
covered  with  a  red  cloth,  upon  which  were  drawn  the 
figures  of  skulls  and  other  bones  ;  upon  his  left  arm 
a  shield  with  four  arrows,  and  his  right  lifted  in  the 
attitude  of  throwing  a  spear  ;  his  body  dyed  black, 
and  his  head  crowned  with  feathers  of  the  quail. 

We  might  here  make  some  comparisons  between 
this  deity  and  some  others  in  different  parts 
of  the  world ;  but  it  would  engross  more 
time  than  such  a  comparison  would  deserve ; 
we  shall  therefore  only  remark,  that  black  is 
one  of  the  favourite  colours  of  idols  in  ma 
ny  parts  of  the  earth ;  thus  the  terrible  god 
dess  Calli  of  the  Hindoos:  and  Jugernaut,  is 
made  of  a  rude  unfigured  black  stone,  among 
many  other  instances  which  might  be  men 
tioned. 


115 

OMETEUCTLI  AND  OMECIHUATL. 

The  former  was  a  god,  and  the  latter  a  goddess, 
whom  they  believed  dwelt  in  a  magnificent  city,  in 
the  heavens,  abounding  with  delights,  and  there 
watched  over  the  world,  and  gave  to  mortals  their 
wishes,  the  first  to  men  and  the  other  to  women. 
They  had  a  tradition,  that  this  goddess,  having  had 
many  children  in  heaven,  at  one  time  brought  forth 
a  knife  of  flint ;  upon  which,  her  children  in  a  rage 
threw  it  to  the  earth ;  from  which,  when  it  fell,  sprang 
1600  heroes!  who,  knowing  their  high  origin,  and 
having  no  servants,  (for  all  mankind  had  perished  by 
a  general  calamity)  sent  an  embassy  to  their  mother, 
to  entreat  her  to  grant  them  power  to  create  men  to 
serve  them.  She  told  them  to  go  to  Mictlanteuctli, 
god  of  hell,  and  ask  of  him  one  of  the  bones  of  those 
men  who  had  last  perished,  which  they  were  to  sprin 
kle  with  their  blood ;  and  from  it  they  would  have  a 
man  and  a  woman,  who  would  multiply.  Xolotl,  one 
of  the  heroes,  went  to  hell,  and  got  the  bone  ;  but 
from  fear  that  Mictlanteuctli  would  repent  giving  it, 
(which  he  actually  did,)  made  such  precipitate  haste, 
that  he  fell,  and  broke  the  bone  into  two  unequal 
parts,  which  accounts  for  the  difference  in  stature 
among  men.  However,  he  gathered  the  pieces  up, 
and  returned  with  them  to  his  brothers,  who  put  them 
in  a  vessel,  and  sprinkled  them  with  their  blood,  drawn 
from  different  parts  of  the  body.  On  the  fourth  day, 
they  beheld  a  boy  ;  and  continuing  to  sprinkle  with 
blood  for  three  days  more,  a  girl  was  made ;  they  were 
then  both  consigned  to  the  care  of  Xolotl,  to  be 


116 

brought  up,  who  fed  them  with  the  milk  of  thistle  : 
from  this  ceremony,  they  say,  originated  the  practice 
of  drawing  blood  from  the  different  parts  of  the  bo 
dy  ;  an  act  of  devotion  which  continued  an  essential 
part  of  the  Mexican  ritual. 

There  is  some  reason  to  believe  this  story  had  a 
similar  origin  with  the  one  related  of  Deu 
calion.  To  show  the  similarity,  a  sketch  of 
the  Greek  fable  is  given.  Deucalion  and 
his  wife  were  saved  from  an  universal  de 
luge,  and  after  the  waters  had  subsided,  the 
oracle  was  consulted,  to  know  how  the  earth 
should  again  be  peopled.  The  answer  was, 
that  they  should  throw  the  bones  of  their  an 
cient  parent  over  their  heads.  This  kind  of 
sacrilege  afflicted  Pyrrha  considerably,  for 
she  took  it  in  the  literal  sense.  But  her 
husband,  by  a  quibble,  said  it  must  mean 
their  ancient  parent,  the  earth ;  and  that  they 
were  to  understand  stone,  by  the  word  bones. 
They,  therefore,  tried  this  experiment ;  and 
as  the  stones  fell  to  the  ground,  men  and 
women  were  produced. 

Deucalion  is  undoubtedly  a  personification  of 
Noah.  See  Lucian's  -Dea.  Syria,  where  he 
says,  "  The  Greeks,  indeed,  call  him  Deu 
calion  ;  but  the  Chaldeans,  Isloe ;  in  whose 
days  happened  the  great  irruption  of  wa 
ters."! 

|  See  also  Bochart's  Phaleg,  page  100 


117 

The  conformity  between  the  two  traditions  is 
striking :  for  in  both  there  had  been  an  uni 
versal  destruction  of  mankind  ;  and  the  pre 
sent  race  of  men  were  produced  from  rock. 
The  Mexicans,  indeed,  go  somewhat  fur 
ther,  and  produce  men  from  the  bones  of 
those  who  had  perished  in  the  general  cala 
mity.  But  if  we  recollect,  that  the  answer 
given  by  the  oracle  was  so  ambiguous,  that 
it  might  mean  either  stone  or  bone,  and  that 
Pyrrha  took  it  in  this  latter  sense,  we  find 
this  apparent  difference  vanishes. 

It  is  a  very  curious  circumstance,  that  we  find 
so  many  allusions  to  stone,  related  of  this 
event.  Mr.  Bryant  says,  Niobe  is  often 
mentioned  as  a  person  concerned  with  the 
deluge,  or  at  least  is  often  introduced  with 
persons  who  had  an  immediate  reference 
to  it. 

The  Quarterly  Review,  vol.  ii.  for  1809,  p.  56, 
mentions  a  tradition  of  the  Society  Islands, 
which  attributes  the  origin  of  man  to  a 
rock. 

The  inhabitants  of  the  Ladrone  Islands,  and  the 
Massachusetts  Indians,  also  ascribe  the  ori 
gin  of  man  to  rock. 

CIHUACOHUATL,  (Woman  Serpent.) 
This  deity,  the  Mexicans  believed  was  the  first 
woman  that  had  children,  and  she  always  bpre  twins. 

16 


118 

Baron  Humboldt  makes  the  following  observa 
tions  upon  this  goddess,  and  the  serpent 
that  always  accompanies  her  :  —  "  We  here 
think  we  perceive  the  Eve  of  the  Semetic 
nations;  and  in  the  snake  cut  in  pieces,  the 
famous  serpent  Kali-ya,  or  Kali-naga,  con 
quered  by  Vishnu  ;  behind  the  serpent  who 
appears  to  be  speaking  to  the  goddess  Cihu- 
acohuatl,  are  two  naked  figures  of  boys; 
they  are  of  a  different  colour,  and  seem  to  be 
in  the  attitude  of  contending  with  one  an 
other."  -  (See  Humboldfs  Researches, 
i. 


TONATRICLI    AND    MEYTLI, 

Were  the  names  of  the  sun  and  moon,  both  dei 
fied  by  the  Mexicans,  and  other  nations  of  Anahuac. 
They  said,  that  after  the  regeneration  and  multiplica 
tion  of  the  human  race,  by  the  1600  heroes,  there 
was  no  sun  ;  for  the  one  that  formerly  existed,  was 
destroyed  by  the  calamity  we  have  just  noticed,  in 
which  mankind  perished.  The  heroes,  therefore,  as 
sembled  in  Teotihuacan,  around  a  great  fire,  and  said 
to  the  men,  that  the  first  of  them  who  would  throw 
himself  into  the  flames  would  have  the  glory  to  be 
transformed  into  a  sun.  One  of  the  men,  more  in 
trepid  than  the  rest,  called  Nanahuatzin,  threw  him 
self  into  the  flames,  and  descended  to  hell.  During 
this  time,  the  heroes  were  betting,  as  to  what  moment, 
and  in  what  part  of  the  heavens,  the  sun  would  first 


119 

appear :  these  bets,  as  soon  as  lost,  were  sacrificed  ; 
and  consisted  of  quails,  locusts,  &c. 

At  length  the  sun  rose  in  that  quarter,  which,  from 
that  time,  has  been  called  the  Levant.  But  he  had 
scarcely  risen  above  the  horizon,  before  he  stopped ; 
which  the  heroes  perceiving,  sent  to  him  to  desire  he 
would  continue  his  course.  The  sun  replied,  he 
would  not  until  he  should  see  them  all  put  to  death. 
The  heroes  were  no  less  enraged  than  terrified  by  that 
answer ;  upon  which,  one  of  them  taking  his  bow 
and  three  arrows,  shot  one  at  the  sun ;  but  the  sun 
saved  himself  by  stooping.  After  several  ineffectual 
attempts,  the  sun,  enraged,  turned  back  one  of  the  ar 
rows  that  had  been  shot  at  him,  and  fixed  it  in  the 
forehead  of  that  hero,  who  had  first  drawn  his  bow 
against  him,  and  who  instantly  expired. 

The  rest,  intimidated  by  the  fate  of  their  brother, 
and  unable  to  cope  with  the  sun,  resolved  to  die  by 
the  hands  of  Xolotl ;  who,  after  killing  his  brothers, 
put  an  end  to  his  own  life.  The  heroes,  before  they 
died,  left  their  clothes  to  their  servants  :  and  since 
the  conquest  by  the  Spaniards,  certain  ancient  gar 
ments  have  been  found,  which  were  preserved  by  the 
Mexicans,  with  extraordinary  veneration,  under  a 
belief  that  they  had  them  from  those  ancient  heroes. 

They  told  a  similar  fable  of  the  origin  of  the  moon. 
Another  person,  at  the  same  assemblage,  following 
the  example  of  Nanahuatzin,  threw  himself  into  the 
the  fire  ;  but  the  flames  being  somewhat  less  fierce, 
he  turned  out  less  bright,  and  was  transformed  into 
the  moon. 


120 

To  these  two  deities  they  consecrated  those  two  fa 
mous  temples,  erected  in  the  plain  of  Teotihuacan, 
of  which  we  will  speak  in  another  chapter. 

quETZALCOATL,  (Feathered  Serpent  J 
Was  among  the  Mexicans,  and  all  other  nations  of 
Anahuac,  the  god  of  air.  He  was  said  once  to  have 
been  high  priest  of  Tula.  They  figured  him  tall,  big, 
of  a  fair  complexion,  open  forehead,  large  eyes,  long 
black  hair,  and  a  thick  beard.  From  a  love  of  de 
cency,  he  wore  always  a  long  robe.  He  was  so  rich, 
that  he  had  palaces  of  gold,  silver,  and  precious 
stones.  He  was  thought  to  possess  the  greatest  in 
dustry,  and  to  have  invented  the  art  of  melting  metals 
and  cutting  gems.  He  was  supposed  to  have  had 
the  most  profound  wisdom ;  which  he  displayed  in 
the  laws  he  left  to  mankind,  and  above  all,  the  most 
rigid  and  exemplary  manners.  Whenever  he  intend 
ed  promulgating  a  law  to  his  kingdom,  he  ordered  a 
crier  to  the  top  of  the  mountain  Tzatzitepcc,  (hill  of 
shouting,)  near  the  city  of  Tula,  from  whence  his 
voice  was  heard  for  three  hundred  miles.  At  this 
time  the  corn  crew  so  strong,  that  a  single  ear  was  a 
load  for  a  man ;  gourds  were  as  long  as  a  man's  body; 
it  was  unnecessary  to  die  cotton,  for  it  grew  naturally 
of  all  colours ;  and  all  other  fruits  were  in  the  same 
abundance,  and  of  the  same  extraordinary  size ;  then, 
too,  there  was  an  incredible  number  of  beautiful  and 
sweet  singing  birds.  In  a  word,  the  Mexicans  ima 
gined  as  much  happiness  under  the  priesthood  of 
Quetzalcoatl,  as  the  Greeks  did  under  the  reign  of 


" 


121 

Saturn,  whom  this  Mexican  god  also  resembled  by 
the  exile  he  suffered.  Amidst  all  this  prosperity, 
Tezcatlipoca,  their  supreme  but  visible  god,  (we 
know  not  for  what  reason,)  wishing  to  drive  him  from 
that  country,  appeared  to  him  in  the  form  of  an  old 
man,  and  told  him  it  was  the  will  of  the  gods  that  he 
should  be  taken  to  the  kingdom  of  Tlapalla  ;  at  the 
same  time  he  offered  him  a  beverage,  which  he  rea 
dily  accepted,  in  hopes  of  obtaining  that  immortality 
after  which  he  aspired  :  he  no  sooner  drank  it,  than 
he  felt  himself  so  strongly  inclined  to  go  to  Tlapalla, 
that  he  set  out  immediately,  accompanied  by  many  of 
his  subjects.  Near  the  city  of  Quauhtitlan,  he  felled 
a  tree,  with  stones,  which  remained  fixed  in  the  trunk; 
and  near  Tlalnepantla,  he  laid  his  hand  upon  a  stone, 
and  left  an  impression,  which  the  Mexicans  showed 
the  Spaniards.  Upon  his  arrival  at  Cholula,  the  citi 
zens  detained  him,  and  made  him  take  the  govern 
ment  of  their  city.  He  showed  much  aversion  to 
cruelty,  and  could  not  bear  the  mention  of  war.  To 
him,  the  Cholulans  say,  they  owe  their  knowledge  of 
melting  metals,  the  laws  by  which  they  were  after- 
wards  governed,  the  rites  and  ceremonies  of  their  re 
ligion,  and  as  some  say,  the  arrangement  of  their  sea 
sons  and  calendar.  After  being  twenty  years  in  Cho 
lula,  he  resolved  to  pursue  his  journey  to  his  imagi 
nary  kingdom  of  Tlapalla  ;  carrying  along  with  him 
four  noble  and  virtuous  youths  :  but  on  arriving  at 
the  maritime  province  of  Coatzacoalco,  he  dismissed 


122 

them,  and  desired  they  would  return  to  Cholula,  and 
tell  them  he  would  return  to  comfort  and  direct  them. 
The  Cholulans,  out  of  respect  to  Quetzalcoatl,  put 
the  reins  of  government  into  the  hands  of  these  young 
men. 

Some  said,  this  venerable  person  suddenly  disap 
peared  ;  others,  that  he  died  upon  the  coast.  How 
ever  this  may  be,  he  was  consecrated  as  a  god,  and 
worshipped  in  many  places.  The  Cholulans  pre 
served,  with  the  highest  veneration,  some  small  green 
stones,  well  cut,  which  they  said  belonged  to  him. 
His  festivals  were  great  and  extraordinary,  especially 
in  the  divine  years,  and  were  preceded  by  a  fast  of 
eighty  days.  They  said  he  cleared  the  way  for  the 
god  of  waters  ;  because  in  these  countries  rain  is  ge 
nerally  preceded  by  wind,  &c. 

By  Quetzalcoatl,  is  probably  meant  Noah ;  and 
though  the  tradition  is  considerably  confu- 
ed  Clavigero  has,  from  some  traits  in  his 
history,  ventured  to  make  a  slight  compari 
son  between  him  and  Saturn,  who  is  univer 
sally  understood  to  be  the  same  as  Noah.* 
But  the  principal  reason  we  have  for  this  as 
sertion  is,  that  we  find  in  his  temple  and 
worship  a  tolerably  clear  representation  of 
the  ark.  Clavigero  has  put  this  under  the 

*  See  the  first  chapter  of  Bochart's  Phaleg,  for  a  very  learned  dis 
cussion  on  Saturn  and  Noah.  It  is  very  probable  that  the  history  of 
two  different  persons  is  contained  under  the  name  of  Quetzalcoatl ;  but 
more  of  this  in  a  future  page. 


123 

head  of  amusements,  and  calls  it  the  Mexi 
can  theatre.  We  shall,  however,  introduce 
it  in  this  place. 

There  was  in  the  area  of  the  temple  of  this  god,  a 
small  theatre,  thirty  feet  square,  curiously 
whitened,  which  was  adorned  with  boughs, 
and  fitted  up  with  the  greatest  neatness,  and 
surrounded  with  arches  made  of  flowers  or 
feathers,  from  which  were  suspended  many 
birds,  rabbits,  &c.  After  dining,  the  whole 
people  having  assembled,  certain  persons  ap 
peared  who  exhibited  burlesque  characters, 
feigning  themselves  deaf,  sick  with  colds, 
lame,  blind,  crippled,  &c.  addressing  the 
idol  for  a  return  to  health.  These  buffoons 
raised  the  laugh  of  the  people,  by  relating 
their  misfortunes,  and  ludicrous  encounters 
with  one  another :  others  appeared  under 
the  names  of  different  little  animals ;  some 
were  disguised  like  beetles,  toads,  lizards, 
&c.  little  boys  also  appeared  in  the  disguise 
of  butterjlies  and  birds. 

Similar  arkite  rites*  were  common  in  many  parts 
of  the  ancient  world ;  none,  however,  have 
a  more  striking  reference  than  this  of  the 
Mexicans. 

The  feast  of  Bacchus  was  an  arkite  rite,  or  insti 
tution  ;  and  was  celebrated  much  in  the  same 

*  Mr.  Bryant,  in  the  second  volume  of  his  works,  treats  on  the  arkite 
rites  at  length :  a  perusal  of  that  part  of  his  writing's,  will  show  the 
•principle  of  the  Mexican  superstition. 


124 

manner  as  that  of  the  Mexicans  :  for  men 
and  women,  disguised  like  Silenus,  Pan,  the 
Satyrs,  &c.  acted  various  buffooneries  before 
the  people.  From  this  feast  of  Bacchus,  the 
Grecian  drama  arose  ;  and  of  course,  the 
modern  theatre. 

But  to  return  to  Quetzalcoatl.  His  mysterious 
disappearance  agrees  very  well  with  the 
account  given  by  Berosus  of  Xisthurus, 
who  also  unaccountably  disappeared.  Xis 
thurus  is  so  plainly  the  same  as  Noah,  that 
no  doubt  can  remain  as  to  their  identity. 
Mr.  Maurice  remarks,  that  this  disappear 
ance  of  Xisthurus,  is  not  irreconcilable  with 
the  Mosaic  history ;  which  relates  nothing  of 
Noah  after  the  flood,  further  tjian  mention 
ing  the  years  of  his  life.  Some  learned  men 
suppose,  that  he  retired  and  separated  from 
his  posterity ;  which  may  have  thus  given 
rise  to  the  history  of  his  having  disappeared. 

TLALOC  OB  TLALOCATEUOTLI,  (Master  of '  Para- 

disej 

Was  the  god  of  water.  The  Mexicans  and  others, 
called  him,  fertiliser  of  the  earth,  and  protector  of 
their  temporal  goods.  They  believed  he  resided 
upon  the  highest  mountains,  where  the  clouds  are 
generally  formed.  His  image  was  painted  blue  and 
green,  to  express  the  different  colours  observed  in 
water ;  and  he  held  in  his  hand  a  rod  of  gold,  of  an 
undulated  and  pointed  form,  to  denote  lightning. 


125 

In  the  ancient  Zodiac  of  Egypt,  (see  Hist.  Hind, 
vol.  i.)  Typhon  is  represented  with  similar 
rods  to  those  of  Tlaloc,  and  which  are  plain 
ly  emblematical  of  lightning.  Typhon  was, 
as  is  well  known,  the  deity  of  water,  and  a 
personification  of  the  sea,  deluge,  &c. 

XIUHTEUCTLI,  ( Master  of  the  Year  and  Grass,} 

Was  among  the  nations  of  Anahuac,  also  the  god 
of  fire.  To  this  deity  they  made  an  offering  of  the 
first  morsel  of  their  food,  and  the  first  draught  of 
drink,  by  throwing  them  both  into  the  fire. 

This  deity  coincides  with  the  Vesta  of  the  Ro 
mans,  who  was  goddess  of  the  earth,  or  its 
productions,  and  also  of  fire.  The  differ 
ence  of  sex  is  of  no  weight  against  our  ob 
servation  ;  we  are  not  to  regard  sex,  in  any 
comparison  of  ancient  deities,  f 

CENTEOTL,  ( '  Goddess  of  the  Earth  and  Corn,J 
Was  called  also,  Tonacajohua,  (she  that  supports 
us.)     Her  temple  was  on  a  lofty  mountain.     At  her 

•j-  "  Nobody  had  examined  the  theology  of  the  ancients  more  deeply 
than  Porphyry ;  he  was  a  determined  pagan,  and  his  evidence  in  this 
point,  is  unexceptionable ;  he  acknowledged  that  Vesta,  Rhea,  Ceres, 
Themis,  Priapus,  Proserpine,  Bacchus,  Attis,  Adonis,  Silenus,  and  the 
Satyrs,  were  all  one  and  the  same."  (See  Bryant's  Jlnafysis  Ancient 
Mythol,  i.  316  J 

And  Sir  Wm.  Jones,»""  We  must  not  be  surprised  at  finding-,  on  a 
close  examination,  that  the  characters  of  all  the  pagan  deities,  male 
and  female,  melt  into  each  other,"  &?c.  £f?c.  &te.  (Sir  William  Jones's 
Wnrk.<}>  Hi.  3fi5.  T 

17 


126 

temple,  among  the  Totonacas,  was  one  of  the  most 
renowned  oracles  of  the  country. 

We  have  nothing  to  say  here,  but  that  the  most 
famous  oracles  among  ancient  nations  were 
in  caves,  and  were  under  the  protection  of 
the  goddess  of  the  earth. 

Baron  Humboldt,  however,  remarks,  that  Cen* 
teotl  is  the  same  with  the  beautiful  Chri,  or 
Lakshmi  of  the  Hindoos ;  and  whom  the 
Mexicans,  like  the  Arcadians,  designated 
under  the  name  of  the  great  goddess,  or  pri 
mitive  goddess.— (See  Humbotfs  Research 
es,  i.  221.  J 

MICTLANTEUCTLI, 

The  god  of  hell,  and  his  female  companion,  vere 
much  honoured  by  the  Mexicans.  These  deities 
were  supposed  to  dwell  in  a  place  of  great  darkness, 
in  the  bowels  of  the  earth.  Sacrifice  and  offerings 
were  made  to  them  in  the  night ;  and  their  chief  priest 
was  always  dyed  black,  in  order  to  perform  the  func 
tions  of  his  priesthood. 

HUITZILIPOCTLI,  OR  MEXITLI, 

Was  the  god  of  war,  the  deity  most  honoured  by 
the  Mexicans,  and  was  considered  their  chief  protec 
tor.  His  origin  is  thus  described  :  There  lived  in 
Cotepec,  a  place  near  the  ancient  city  of  Tula,  a  wo 
man  called  Coatlicue,  who  was  extremely  devoted 
to  the  service  of  the  gods.  One  day,  according  to 


127 

her  custom,  as  she  was  walking  in  the  temple,  she 
beheld,  descending  in  the  air,  a  ball  made  of  various 
feathers.  She  seized  it,  and  kept  it  in  her  bosom, 
intending  afterwards  to  decorate  the  altar  with  the 
feathers  ;  but  on  searching  for  them  after  her  walk, 
they  were  not  to  be  found,  which  very  much  surpri 
sed  her ;  and  her  wonder  was  much  increased  when 
she  perceived  from  that  moment  she  was  pregnant. 
Her  pregnancy  was  discovered  by  her  children ;  who, 
though  they  could  not  suspect  their  mother's  virtue, 
yet  fearing  the  disgrace  she  would  suffer  from  the 
world,  determined  to  put  her  to  death.  She  was  in 
very  great  affliction  at  the  thoughts  of  dying  by  the 
hands  of  her  own  children ;  when  she  heard  an  unex 
pected  voice  issue  from  her  womb,  saying,  "  be  not 
afraid,  mother,  I  shall  save  you  with  the  greatest  ho 
nour  to  yourself  and  glory  to  me."  Her  hard-heart 
ed  sons,  guided  and  encouraged  by  a  sister,  who  had 
been  most  keenly  bent  upon  the  deed,  were  upon  the 
point  of  executing  their  purpose,  when  Huitzilopoctli 
was  born,  with  a  shield  in  his  left  hand,  a  spear  in  his 
right,  and  a  crest  of  green  feathers  on  his  head,  the 
left  leg  adorned  with  feathers,  and  his  face,  arms,  and 
thighs,  streaked  with  blue  lines.  As  soon  as  he  came 
into  the  world,  he  displayed  a  twisted  pine,  and  com- 

!  manded  one  of  his  soldiers  to  kill  his  sister,  as  the 
one  most  guilty.     (It  does  not  appear  how  these  sol- 

;  diers  were  produced.)  He  himself  attacked  the  others, 

|  with  so  much  fury,  that  in  spite  of  their  efforts,  arms, 
or  intreaties,  he  killed  them  all,   plundered  their 

I  houses,  and  presented  the  spoils  to  his  mother.  Men 


128 

were  so  terrified  that  they  called  him  Tetzahuitl,  ter- 
rour,  and  Tetzauhteotl,  terrible  god.  This  was  the 
god  who,  becoming  the  protector  of  the  Mexicans, 
conducted  them  through  their  pilgrimage,  and  at 
length  settled  them  on  the  place  where  Mexico  was 
afterwards  built.  His  statue  was  of  a  gigantick  size, 
in  the  posture  of  a  man  sitting  on  a  bench,  of  a  blue 
colour,  from  the  corners  of  which  issued  four  large 
snakes  :  his  forehead  was  blue,  and  his  face  covered 
with  a  golden  mask,  as  was  also  the  back  of  his  head 
by  another  :  upon  his  head  was  placed  a  crest,  shaped 
like  the  beak  of  a  bird  :  around  his  neck  a  collar, 
consisting  of  ten  figures  of  the  human  heart :  in  his 
right  hand  was  a  large  blue  twisted  club  ;  in  his  left 
a  shield,  on  which  five  balls  of  feathers  were  arranged 
in  the  form  of  a  cross ;  from  the  upper  part  of  the 
shield  rose  a  golden  flag,  with  four  arrows,  which  the 
Mexicans  believed  came  from  Heaven :  his  body  was 
girt  with  a  large  golden  snake,  and  adorned  with  ma 
ny  small  figures  of  various  animals,  made  of  gold  and 
precious  stones;  each  of  these  figures,  Clavigerosays, 
had  a  particular  meaning,  which  he  does  not  relate. 
To  this  deity  were  sacrificed  more  human  victims 
than  to  any  other  god. 

There  is  not  a  small  resemblance  between  Huit- 
zilopoctli  and  some  parts  of  the  history  of 
the  Hindoo  Creeshna.  Those  who  may  wish 
to  read  Creeshna's  life  at  length,  will  find  it 
in  Ancient  Hist.  Hind.  vol.  ii.  327. 


129 


The  accounts  given  by  Clavigero  of  the  remaining 
great  gods,  are  too  brief  and  insignificant  to  merit  no 
tice.  Besides  these,  they  also  had  260  deities,  to  whom 
as  many  days  were  dedicated. 


The  Mexicans  also  had  their  Penates,  or  household 
gods,  which  were  called  Tepitoton.  Of  these  small 
images,  the  king  and  great  lords  had  always  six  in 
their  houses ;  the  nobles  had  four ;  and  the  lower  class 
of  people  two.  These  gods  were  to  be  seen  every 
where  in  the  streets. 

The  comparison  which  might  be  made  here, 
must  be  obvious  to  every  one  acquainted 
with  Roman  mythology. 

The  most  extraordinary  idol  of  the  Mexicans,  was 
a  representation  of  Huitzilopoctli,  made  by  pasting 
certain  seeds  together  with  human  blood. 

This  custom  of  making  images  of  seeds,  is  not  pe 
culiar  to  the  Mexicans ;  though  it  appears  they 
were  the  only  people  who  made  their  gods  in 
this  manner.  The  substance  of  the  following 
extract  is  from  Rollin's  Ancient  History : 
"  Empedocles,  of  Agrigentum,  having  con- 
quered  at  some  of  the  publick  games,  was 
obliged  to  feast  the  people  with  an  ox  ;  but 
being  a  Pythagorean,  he  could  not  kill  an 
animal ;  he  therefore  had  the  image  of  an  ox 


130 

made  of  a  paste,  composed  of  myrrh,  in 
cense,  and  the  different  varieties  of  spices  ; 
•which  was  broken  up,  and  the  pieces  given 
to  those  present." 

We  must  here  introduce  an  observation  on  the 
Mexican  gods,  who  were,  for  the  most  part,  painted 
with  red  and  blue  streaks. 

Mr.  Maurice,  in  Hist.  Hind,  says,  that  blue  vest 
ments  and  decorations  are  usually  met  with 
on  the  statues  of  Hindoo  and  Egyptian  dei 
ties.  Thus,  Narayen  and  Sani  are  of  a  blue 
colour ;  and  Isis  wore  a  blue  veil.  Vermi 
lion  was  also  a  common  colour  with  the 
deities  of  these  two  nations. 

Pliny  says  the  Romans  painted  Jupiter's  face  red ; 
and  Vulcan  was  sometimes  represented  with 
a  blue  hat. 


131 


CHAPTER  IX. 

ON  THE  MEXICAN  TEMPLES. 

As  the  Mexicans  were  extremely  well  priest-rid, 
they  had  an  immense  number  of  holy  persons  to  sup 
port.  We  will  not  exhibit  the  ceremonies,  vows, 
vigils,  or  fasts  of  this  body — nor  will  we  expose  the 
impostures  and  cruelties  of  the  profession,  the  mise 
ries  a  nation  endure  when  under  the  dominion  of 
priest-craft,  are  so  well  known,  that  our  readers  might 
consider  it  an  impertinent  digression,  were  we  to  at 
tempt  illustrating  this  fact  by  accounts  of  the  Mexi 
can  hierarchy. 

The  antiquarian  will  find  some  interesting  facts 
arising  from  the  consideration  of  the  Mexican  Tem 
ples  ;  the  erection  of  which  buildings  cost  this  Ame 
rican  people  great  and  laborious  exertions. 

The  principal  temple  of  Mexico,  and  which  was 
dignified  with  the  appellation  of  the  c  R  E  A  T  T  E  M  p  L  E  , 
was  dedicated  to  Huitzilopoctli.  This  building  seem 
ed  as  if  composed  of  five  pieces,  or  bodies,  one  above 
another,  the  largest  below,  and  gradually  diminishing 
in  each  successive  piece  to  the  top ;  the  steps  we* 


132 

peculiarly  constructed,  which  can  be  better  under 
stood  by  means  of  the  following  figure,  than  by  any 
language  of  description. 


The  upper  body  or  story  was  paved  with  smooth 
flat  stones ;  and  at  the  eastern  extremity  of  this  sur 
face,  stood  two  towers,  of  the  height  of  fifty-six  feet : 
each  of  these  towers  was  divided  into  three  bodies ; 
the  lowest  of  which  was  of  stone  and  lime,  the  two 


133 

upper  ones  were  of  wood  well  wrought  and  painted. 
The  stone  part  of  each  of  these  towers  was  properly 
the  sanctuaries.  One  of  these  sanctuaries  was  dedica 
ted  to  the  gods  of  war,  and  the  other  to  Tezcatlipoca : 
before  each  of  them  was  a  stone  stove,  in  the  shape 
of  the  pyx  used  by  the  Roman  Catholick  church,  in 
which  was  kept  a  constant  fire.  A  convex  stone  was 
at  the  west  end  of  the  surface,  upon  which  human 
sacrifices  were  made.  This  great  temple,  with  forty 
chapels,  colleges,  fountains,  gardens,  &c.  was  enclo 
sed  by  a  stone  wall,  very  thick,  and  eight  feet  high ; 
which  was  ornamented  with  many  stone  figures  of 
serpents,  whence  its  name,  Wall  of  Serpents.* 

The  principle,  strikingly  evident  in  the  plan  of 
this  Mexican  temple,  is  the  same  with  that 
of  the  oldest  building  recorded  in  history  ; 
and  is  a  remarkable  proof  of  the  great  anti 
quity  of  the  American  nations.  The  extract 
we  shall  here  give,  is  so  pointed  as  a  parallel 
with  the  Mexican  temple,  that  it  would  be 
needless  to  urge  the  fact. 

"  Bochart  says,  the  tower  of  Babel  was,  at  its 
base,  a  square  of  a  furlong,  or  half  a  mile,  in 
circumference  ;  and  consisted  of  eight  tow 
ers,  as  they  appeared  to  be,  built  one  above 
the  other.  The  ascent  to  its  top  was  by 

*  The  Mexicans  had  also  another  form  of  temples,  resembling-  a 
truncated  pyramid,  and  the  ascent  to  the  top  by  means  of  steps  raised 
on  one  side  only.  Mr.  Maurice  has  noticed  the  analogy  between  these 
temples,  and  those  of  Hindostan,  in  a  comparative  plate,  in  his  Indian 
antiquities. 

18 


134 

stairs  on  the  outside  ;  formed  by  a  sloping 
line,  from  the  bottom  to  the  top,  eight  times 
round  it,  so  as  to  exhibit  the  appearance  of 
eight  towers ;  the  uppermost  of  which  was 
the  most  sacred,  and  most  appropriate  to  the 
uses  of  devotion.  In  this  temple  of  Belus 
there  seemed  to  be  two  distinct  deities  wor 
shipped  :  one  was  the  supreme  God  of  hea 
ven,  while  Belus  was  at  least  the  delegated 
god  on  earth."  (See  Rees's  New  Cyclo 
paedia.} 

The  similarity  between  the  Mexican  and  Baby 
lonish  temples,  with  respect  to  the  worship 
of  two  divinities,  is  also  striking  : — for  the 
two  towers  that  stood  on  the  Mexican  tem 
ple,  were  each  dedicated  to  a  different  deity 
— one  to  Tezcatlipoca,  their  supreme  (but 
visible)  god ; — and  the  other  to  Huitzilo- 
pochtli,  god  of  war,  and  chief  protector  of 
Mexico.  (See  Clavigero's  Hist.  Mexico.  J 

Baron  Humboldt  has  made  a  similar  application  to 
the  Mexican  temples ; — he  thus  expresses  himself. 

"  It  is  impossible  to  read  the  descriptions  which 
Herodotus  and  Diodorus  Siculus  have  left  us  of  the 
temple  of  Jupiter  Belus,  without  being  struck  with 
the  resemblance  of  that  Babylonian  monument,  to  the 
teocalli's  (temples)  of  the  Mexicans."  (Humboldt's 
Research.  11.  82,  octavo. ) 

To  illustrate  further  the  great  analogies  existing 
between  the  Mexican  edifices,  and  buildings  made 


135 

for  similar  purposes  in  the  old  continent, — we  will 
here  add  several  observations  from  the  writings  of 
this  learned  traveller. 

"  It  is  also  remarkable,  (especially  if  we  call  to 
mind  the  assertions  of  Pococke,  as  to  the  symmetri 
cal  position  of  the  lesser  pyramids  of  Egypt,)  that 
around  the  temples  of  the  sun  and  moon  at  Teotihu- 
acan,  we  find  a  group,  I  may  say  a  system  of  pyra 
mids  of  scarcely  nine  or  ten  metres.  (29  or  32  feet.) 
These  monuments,  of  which  there  are  several  hun 
dred,  are  disposed  in  very  large  streets,  which  follow 
exactly  the  direction  of  the  parallels,  and  of  the  me 
ridians,  and  which  terminate  in  the  four  faces  of  the 
two  great  pyramids  :  according  to  tradition  they  were 
dedicated  to  the  stars  ; — it  appears  certain,  however, 
that  they  served  as  burying  places  for  the  chiefs  of 
tribes : — all  the  plain  bore  formerly  the  name  of  Mi- 
caotl,  or  road  of  the  dead, — What  analogies  with  the 
monuments  of  the  old  continent ! — and  this  people 
who,  on  arriving  in  the  seventh  century  on  the  Mex 
ican  soil,  constructed  on  an  uniform  plan,  several  of 
those  colossal  monuments,  and  truncated  pyramids 
divided  by  layers  like  the  temple  of  Belus  at  Baby 
lon  : — Whence  did  they  take  the  model  of  these  edi 
fices  ?  Were  they  of  the  Mongol  race ! ! !  Did 
they  descend  from  a  common  stock  with  the  Chi 
nese,  the  Hiong-nu,  and  the  Japanese  !  !  !  (Credat 
Judaeus  appella.)  (See  Humboldfs  Polit.  Essay,  it. 
44J 

Again, 

"In  the  great  pyramid  of  Cholula,  formed  of  alter- 


136 

nate  strata  of  brick  and  clay,  we  recognise  the  same 
model  observed  in  the  form  of  the  pyramids  of  Teo- 
tihuacan. — This  monument  suffices  also  to  prove, 
the  great  analogy  between  these  brick  monuments, 
erected  by  the  most  ancient  inhabitants  of  Anahuac, 
and  the  temple  of  Bel  us  at  Babylon,  and  the  pyra 
mids  of  Menschich-Dashour,  near  Sakara  in  Egypt." 
(Ibid,  ii.  12Q.J 

From  the  preceding  observations  we  learn  the  re 
markable  fact,  that  the  Mexican  temples  are  built 
upon  the  very  same  model  as  the  famous  tower  of 
Babel. — Why  this  was  done  may  be  easily  explain 
ed  by  the  opinion  given  in  VII.  chap,  of  this  Essay. 

The  Mexicans  being  immediately  dispersed  from 
Babel,  as  well  as  other  original  nations,  would  natu 
rally,  when  established  in  another  country,  act  upon 
the  principles  and  knowledge  in  which  they  had  been 
educated,  and  would  do  those  things  which  they  had 
been  accustomed  to.  Hence,  if  mankind,  prior  to 
the  dispersion,  had  been  accustomed  to  no  other  form 
of  temple,  than  that  style  in  which  the  temple  or  tow 
er  of  Babel  was  built,  (and  which,  it  is  very  probable, 
was  only  a  grand  cathedral,  on  the  common  plan,) — 
we  must  then  expect  to  find  mankind,  after  the  cjis- 
persion,  building  their  temples  upon  the  identical 
plan  or  model,  of  those  that  they  had  been  accustom 
ed  to. 

As  an  illustration : — The  Roman  Catholicks  almost 
universally  build  their  churches  in  the  form  of  a  cross. 
This  is  their  plan  and  model ; — and  though  St.  Pe 
ter's  at  Rome,  is  very  far  superiour  to  a  parish 


137 

church,  still  both  of  them  have  the  same  form  and  de 
sign  of  building ;  and  this  is  done  in  whatever  part 
of  the  world  that  a  Catholick  erects  a  church. 

And  thus  we  observe,  that  the  religious  edifices  of 
Babylon,  Egypt,  Hindostan,  and  Mexico,  have  such 
analogies  to  each  other,  as  must  convince  any  one, 
'  they  are  all  derived  from  one  and  the  same  model  s 
which  model  appears  to  be  the  same  as  that  by  which 
the  tower  of  Babel  was  built. 

It  will  be  useful  to  pursue  the  subject  of  this  chap* 
ter  further,  as  in  it  are  involved  many  considerations 
that  must  be  interesting  to  the  philosopher  and  anti 
quarian. — From  the  arguments  which  we  have  just 
urged,  it  must  appear  that  the  Mexicans  and  other 
ancient  nations,  would  inevitably  follow  that  style  of 
temple  building  which  we  may,  for  distinction  sake, 
call  the  Babylonian. — Now,  in  perfect  accordance  to 
this,  and  other  opinions  of  our  essay,  it  can  be  shewn, 
that  the  morais,  or  temples  of  the  Islanders  of  the  Pa 
cific  ocean,  are  of  the  same  principle,  and  same  ori 
ginal  model,  with  those  of  Babylon,  Egypt,  or  Mex 
ico.  To  exhibit  this  more  plainly,  see  the  following 
extracts  from  Capt.  Cook's  voyages. 

"  The  morai  of  Oberea  is  a  prodigious  pile  of 
stone,  two  hundred  and  sixty-seven  feet  long,  and 
eighty-seven  wide  at  the  base.  It  is  raised  by  flights 
of  steps  to  the  height  of  forty-four  feet,  these  steps 
are  each  four  feet  high,  narrowing  gradually  till  they 
end  in  a  small  entablature,  on  which  near  the  mid 
dle  stands  the  figure  of  a  bird  carved  in  wood,  and  at 
some  distance  the  broken  fragments  of  a  fish  cut  in 


138 

stone.  This  pile  makes  a  considerable  part  of  one 
side  of  a  square  court,  whose  area  is  three  hundred 
and  sixty  feet,  by  three  hundred  and  fifty .  four,  en 
closed  with  a  stone  wall,  and  paved  with  the  same 
materials  through  its  whole  extent ;  at  what  time  it 
was  erected,  could  not  be  learned.  Captain  Cook 
remarks,  that  this  work  being  solid  and  without  a  ca 
vity,  will  last  as  long  as  the  island  itself,  and  that  no 
time  that  will  not  equally  effect  the  island  can  de 
stroy  it."  (See  Cook's  Second  Voyage,  ii.  567.  J 

Again, 

"  In  the  Isle  of  Owyhee,  was  a  morai  forty  yards 
in  length,  twenty  broad,  and  fourteen  feet  in  height ; 
the  top  is  flat,  and  it  is  surrounded  with  a  wooden 
railing;  a  ruinous  wooden  building  is  situated  in  the 
centre  of  the  area,  connected  with  the  railing  by  a 
stone  wall,  dividing  the  whole  space  into  two  parts." 
(See  Cook's  Voyages,  v.  1933.^ 

To  the  same  intention  with  these  morais,  teo- 
callis,  or  temples,  we  might  ascribe  many 
of  those  rude  monuments  that  occur  in  ma 
ny  parts  of  the  United  States,  and  are  known 
by  the  name  of  mounds.  We  will  hereaf 
ter  shew  that  they  are  found  in  every  quar 
ter  of  the  globe  ;  among  the  Caifres  of  Afri 
ca,  as  well  as  on  the  plain  of  Troy.  Bryant, 
says,  (see  Taph.  in  Analysis  Anc.  MythoL) 
that  altars  were  anciently  built  on  mounds.* 

*  "Attila  erected  an  altar  or  pile  of  faggots  three  hundred  feet  square 
to  the  sword  of  Mars,  which  was  placed  erect  on  the  summit,  and  was 
annually  consecrated  by  sacrifices."  (Gibbon's  Decline  £f?  Fall,  vi.  44. 
Land.  Edition.  J 


139 

When  the  Spaniards  arrived  in  South  America, 
they  found  stones  cut  into  the  figure  of  the  cross  ; 
which  were  much  revered  by  the  Mexicans.*  This 
has  long  seemed  inexplicable :  for  it  induced  a  be 
lief,  that  some  Christian  people  had  visited  these 
shores,  previous  to  the  discovery  by  the  Spaniards. 
Later  research  has  however  elucidated  the  difficul 
ty:  for 

The  cross  is  a  symbol  of  MATTER  ;  and  was  ve 
nerated  among  the  Egyptians  from  the  great 
est  antiquity  ;  and  in  Hindostan,  where  the 
singular  fact  occurs,  of  building  temples 
sometimes  in  that  form,  as  for  instance, 
those  ancient  ones  of  Benares  and  Mattra. 
(See  Anc.  Hist.  Hind.  vol.  L  249.^ 

General  Valancey  says,  the  symbol  of  knowledge 
among  the  ancient  Irish,  was  the  cross. 

The  sacrifices  of  the  Mexicans  were  extremely 
cruel  and  bloody ;  so  much  so,  that  Clavigero,  in 
enumerating  their  festivals,  remarks,  that  one  of  tne*ir 
most  extraordinary  festivals  was  the  one  in  which  not 
a  Single  human  victim  was  required.  These  horrid 
sacrifices  have  many  parallels  in  ancient  history, 


*  Garcilazo  De  la  Vega,  informs  us,  that  the  ancient  Peruvians  had 
a  cross  of  white  marble  in  the  royal  palace  of  Cozco,  which  they  did  not 
adore  ;  but  held  it  in  great  veneration ;  for  which  they  could  assign  no 
reason.  fSee  Meant' s  Translation  of  Garcilazo,  folio,  30.  J 


140 

especially  among  the  Carthagenians,  Gauls  and  Hin 
doos.* 

They  also  sacrificed  to  the  sun,  much  in  the  same 
manner  as  the  old  Persians  did.  This  subject,  how 
ever,  is  not  worth  our  particular  investigation. 


*  The  sacrificing  of  men  has  been  more  or  less  common  with  all  an 
cient  nations ;  for  a  particular  detail— ("See  Eusebius  Prep.  Evang.  Lib 
iv.  cap.  xvi.J 


141 


CHAPTER  X. 

ON  THE  MEXICAN  DIVISION  OF  TIME,  ASTRONOMY,  &c.  &c. 

J_  H  E  very  considerable  degree  of  astronomick  know 
ledge  possessed  by  the  Chaldeans,  Hindoos,  &c.  has 
for  a  long  time  excited  the  wonder  of  the  literary 
world.  How  these  nations,  without  the  aid  of  glas 
ses,  could  know  and  so  accurately  describe  the  hea 
venly  bodies,  and  make  the  calculations  necessary  for 
predicting  conjunctions  of  the  planets,  eclipses,  &c. 
is  very  astonishing.  To  explain  the  origin  of  this 
knowledge,  astronomers  have  been  obliged  to  consi 
der  it  of  antediluvian  existence.  And  if  we  can 
prove  the  separation  of  the  inhabitants  of  America 
from  those  of  the  old  world,  at  the  early  period  we 
have  fixed  on,  this  knowledge  must  certainly  be  de 
rived  from  antediluvian  observation  and  experience : 
for  there  is  a  striking  similarity  between  the  astrono 
my  of  the  Mexicans  and  other  people  of  South  Ame 
rica,  and  that  of  Hindostan,  Chaldea,  &.c. 

AGES    OF     THE    WORLD. 

The  Mexicans,  and  other  nations  of  Anahuac,  dis 
tinguished  four  ages  of  time,  by  as  many  suns.  The 

19 


U2 

first  was  Atonatiuh,  the  sun,  or  age  of  water  ;  which 
commenced  with  the  creation  of  the  world,  and  con 
tinued  until  that  time  when  all  mankind  perished 
with  the  sun,  by  a  general  inundation. 

The  second,  Tlatonatiuh,  age  of  the  earth,  lasted 
from  the  time  of  the  inundation,  until  the  ruin  of  the 
giants,  and  the  great  earthquakes  ;  which  concluded 
the  second  sun.  The  third,  Eatonatiuh,  age  of  air, 
lasted  from  the  destruction  of  the  giants,  until  the 
great  whirlwinds,  in  which  all  mankind  perished  along 
with  the  third  sun.  The  fourth  age,  Tletonatiuh, 
age  of  fire,  began  with  the  last  restoration  of  the  hu 
man  race,  and  was  to  continue  until  the  fourth  sun 
and  the  earth  are  destroyed  by  fire. 

Several  ancient  nations  of  the  old  continent  have 
similar  divisions  of  the  age  of  the  world ; 
none  are  of  greater  antiquity  than  that  of  the 
Hindoos,  whose  divisions  we  shall  use  as  a 
parallel. 

Their  first  yug  or  age  was  finished  by  a  mighty 
flood  ;  the  second,  by  means  of  a  great 
whirlwind  and  tempest ;  the  third,  by  a  great 
earthquake,  and  the  fourth  is  to  be  termi 
nated  by  a  general  conflagration. 

It  is  probable,  that  the  Hindoo  arrangement  of 
these  divisions  is  the  proper  order  they  should  stand. 
Individually  considered,  they  are  precisely  the  same 
as  the  Mexican,  and  only  differing  in  arrangement. 
The  second  sun  or  age  of  the  Mexicans,  we  think 


143 

should  be  their  third ;  and  the  third  sun  will  then  be 
in  place  of  the  second.  The  original  order  of  the 
Mexican  ages  may  have  been  deranged  by  time,  ac 
cidents,  or  mistakes  of  the  Spanish  writers. 

It  cannot  be  supposed,  that  these  divisions  of  the 
age  of  the  world  were  made  previous  to  the  disper 
sion  from  Babel ;  but  they  were  most  probably 
formed  by  several  great  events,  happening  at  differ 
ent  periods  of  time,  and  which  were  important  in 
their  influence  or  effect  upon  man. 

According  to  the  Hindoos  and  Mexicans,  the  first 
age  was  terminated  by  a  great  inundation,  assuredly 
the  same  as  the  deluge. 

The  second  period  was  terminated  by  whirlwinds, 
which  we  know  not  how  to  affix,  unless  with  Mr. 
Bryant  we  believe,  that  the  miracle  of  the  confusion 
was  also  attended  with  violent  tempests,  whirlwinds, 
&c.  Such  an  event  as  the  dispersion,  might  very  just 
ly  be  denominated  the  end  of  an  age ;  a  period  which 
lasted  from  the  deluge,  when  all  mankind  were  living 
together  as  one  people,  to  that  time,  when  they  were 
scattered  over  the  globe. 

The  third  age,  which  was  finished  by  earthquakes, 
was  the  time  from  the  confusion  of  language  to  the 
great  division  of  the  earth,  which  we  have  previous 
ly  treated  of;  and  if  admitted  to  the  extent  we  have 
laid  down,  there  is  no  difficulty  in  believing  that  na 
tions  widely  separated  would  place  it  as  a  grand 
epoch  in  their  divisions  of  time. 

The  termination  of  this  present  or  fourth  age  by 
fire,  is  an  universal  belief,  as  well  among  Christians 


144 

as  Pagans.  This  last  termination  of  the  world,  the 
Jews  say,  was  prophesied  before  the  flood,  if  we  mis 
take  not ;  but,  at  any  rate,  by  Noah.  We  can  there- 
fore  account,  in  this  manner,  for  the  universal  belief 
of  the  ending  of  the  world  by  fire. 

OF   THE  MEXICAN  YEAR,  &C. 

The  Mexican  year  was  measured  by  two  different 
calendars,  which  were  designated  by  the  names  of 
CIVIL,  and  RELIGIOUS.* 

The  civil  year  was  solar,  and  consisted  of  three 
hundred  and  sixty  days,  which  were  formed  into 
eighteen  periods  or  months,  of  twenty  days.  To  give 
the  correct  length  to  the  year,  they  added  at  the  close 
of  the  last  month,  five  days ;  which  were  called 
nemontemi,  void  or  useless  days,  as  not  being  attach 
ed  to  any  month,  nor  included  in  any  calculation. 
From  the  end  of  these  five  days  they  commenced  a 
new  year.  But  as  the  true  length  of  the  year  exceeds 
three  hundred  and  sixty-five  days,  by  six  hours  and 
upwards  ;  the  Mexicans  lost  a  day  every  four  years  ; 
this  defalcation,  however,  was  allowed  to  accumulate 
until  it  amounted  to  thirteen  days,  which  would  take 
place  during  the  lapse  of  fifty  two  years,  (of  365 
days;)  these  thirteen  days -were  then  added  to  the  fif 
ty-two  years  ;  and  from  their  end,  a  new  period  be 
gan,  which  brought  the  comm'encement  of  the  year 
back  to  its  true  place. 

*  The  Jews  resembled  the  Mexicans  in  this  particular,  for  they  be 
gan  the  year  for  civil  purposes  in  the  month  Tizri,  which  answers  to 
our  September ;  but  for  ecclesiastical  purposes  with  Nisan,  which  an 
swers  to  our  April.  ("See  Priestly9 s  Lectures  on  History.  Sect.  xiv.  198. 


145 

The  correct  Mexican  year  began  on  the  time  an 
swering  to  our  9th  of  January ;  but  as  they  did  not 
intercalate  the  six  hours,  minutes,  &c.  of  excess,  un 
til  they  amounted  to  thirteen  days:  the  commence 
ment  of  their  years  varied  accordingly,  in  proportion 
to  the  time  elapsed  from  the  commencement  of  the 
period  of  52  years. 

Thirteen  years  formed  a  period  or  cycle,  called  a 
XL  AL PILL i, — four  tlalpilli  made  the  period  of  fifty- 
two  years,  known  by  the  name  ofxiuHMOLPiLLi*, 
and  two  of  these  last  periods  formed,  what  they  call 
ed,  an  old  age,  or  CEHUEHUETILIZTLI. 

The  year  was  divided  into  eighteen  equal  MONTHS, 
and  each  month  was  divided  into  four  periods  of  five 
days.| 

The  beginning  of  the  Mexican  day,  according  to 
Baron  Humboldt,  was  reckoned  from  sun  rising,  like 
the  Persians,  Egyptians,  Babylonians,  and  the  greater 
part  of  the  nations  of  Asia,  except  the  Chinese  ;  and 
it  was  divided  into  eight  intervals,  a  division  found 
among  the  Hindoos  and  Romans, 

*  Xiuhmolpilli,  signifies  ligature  of  our  years,  and  was  hieroglyphick- 
ally  expressed  by  a  bundle  of  rushes  tied  in  the  middle,  something-  like 
a  sheaf  of  wheat ;— an  apparent  analogy  to  this  hieroglyphick,  may  be 
seen  engraved  on  the  seat  of  the  statue  of  Menemon,  where  two  figures 
arc  tying  a  bundle  of  flags,  or  rushes,  with  a  rope  or  cord.  (See  plate 
cxi.  to  Norden's  Travels. _) 

Baron  Humbeldt  observes,  that  the  year  was  known  among  the  Peru 
vians,  by  the  name  of  huata,  a  word  derived  from  huatani,  to  tie,  or  hu~ 
atanan,  a  rope  of  rushes-  (Hitmboldt's  Researches,  i.  287.^ 

f  The  people  of  Benin,  in  Africa,  have  small  periods  of  five  days— 
every  fifth  day  is  celebrated  as  a  festival,  with  sacrifices,  offerings,  antf 
entertainments.  (See  Payne's  Geog.  ii.  190. J 


146 

ON   THE   MONTH. 

I  think  it  may  be  proved,  says  Baron  Humboldt, 
that  a  great  part  of  the  names,  by  which  the  Mexi 
cans  denoted  the  twenty  days  of  their  months,  are 
those  of  the  signs  of  a  zodiack,  in  use  from  the  re 
motest  antiquity  among  the  nations  of  eastern  Asia ; 
and  in  order  to  demonstrate  that  this  assertion  is  less 
unfounded  than  it  appears  at  first  sight,  I  shall  unite 
in  the  same  table  ; — 1st.  The  names  of  the  Mexican 
hieroglyphicks — such  as  they  have  been  transmitted 
to  us  by  every  writer  of  the  sixteenth  century.  2dly, 
The  Tartarian,  Japanese,  and  Thibetan  names  of  the 
twelve  signs  of  the  Zodiack  : — and  3dly,  The  names 
of  the  Nacshatras,  or  lunar  houses,  of  the  calendar  of 
the  Hindoos. — (See  the  annexed  table.  J 


148 

The  striking  analogies  exhibited  in  this  table,  cer 
tainly  justify  Baron  Humboldt's  belief,  that  these  dif 
ferent  astrological  signs  have  had  a  common  origin ; 
and  he  shews  in  his  discourse  upon  this  table,  great 
reason  for  believing,  that  the  twelve  signs  of  the  zo- 
diack,  have  been  selected  from  a  lunar  zodiack  of  27  or 
28  signs.  And  he  observes,  we  may  yet  find  in  some 
country  celebrated  for  its  ancient  civilization,  a  lunar 
zodiac  in  which  the  composition  and  arrangement  of 
the  signs,  may  be  the  same  with  those  of  the  Mexi 
cans. 

The  Baron  further  observes,  that  the  apes  and  ti 
gers,  which  we  find  in  the  zodiacks  of  the  Tartars  and 
Mexicans,  are  not  found  either  in  the  central  and 
elevated  plains  of  Eastern  Asia,  or  in  the  northern 
parts  of  New  Spain,  or  North  West  Coasts  of  Ame 
rica,  whence  the  Mexicans  emigrated,  about  400 
years  prior  to  the  discovery  by  Columbus. 

Baron  Humboldt  mentions  a  series  of  signs  known 
among  the  Mexicans,  by  the  names  of  Lords  of  the 
Night ;  we  might  be  tempted  to  look  for  some  ana 
logy  between  these  nine  lords  of  the  night,  and  the 
nine  astrological  signs  of  several  nations  of  Asia ;  but 
he  observes,  that  this  number  is  chosen  merely  on 
account  of  the  facility,  with  which  they  divide  the 
360  days  into  40  times.  I  do  not  think  this  is  a  cor 
rect  explanation  of  this  fact,  for  why  should  the 
Mexicans  choose  numbers  that  they  made  no  use  of, 
and  especially,  numbers  that  were  not  favourites. 

We  will  now  leave  the  CIVIL,  and  speak  of  the 
SAC  BED  or  RELIGIOUS  calendar,  which  in  fact  was 
the  one  in  common  ;  we  might  say,  universal  use. 


149 

This  calendar  presents  an  uniform  series  of  small 
periods  of  thirteen  days,  progressing  until  they 
amounted  to  260  days,  which  formed  the  religious 
year. 

The  religious  century  consisted  of  seventy -three 
religious  years,  amounting  to  18980  days;  which 
coincides  exactly  with  the  duration  of  that  period, 
which  we  have  already  spoken  of  under  the  name  of 
Tlalpalli; — in  this  manner  the  civil  and  religious 
computations  were  reconciled  to  each  other. 

We  will  not  go  into  the  explanation  of  the  com 
plex  method  by  which  the  Mexicans  kept  their  chro 
nological  history  ; — though  considerable  analogies 
might  be  shewn  to  exist  between  the  method  of  the 
Mexicans  and  Japanese,  Thibetans,  Hindoos,  and 
Egyptians.  (See  Humbolt's  Researches,  explana 
tion  of  plate  xxvi.J 

The  Mexicans  had  a  very  great  esteem  for  the 
number  thirteen  ;  their  century  was  divided  into  four 
periods  of  thirteen  years ;  and  while  thirteen  months 
formed  their  cycle  of  260  days — thirteen  days  made 
their  smaller  periods. 

The  number  four,  was  esteemed  no  less ;  as  they 
reckoned  four  periods  of  thirteen  years  to  their  cen 
tury :  they  also  had  thirteen  periods  of  four  years;  at 
the  expiration  of  each  period  of  four  years,  they  made 
extraordinary  festivals. 

The  number  thirteen,  as  it  respects  the  small  pe 
riods,  appears  to  be  nothing  else  than  a  rude 
division  of  the  moon's  revolution  into  halves. 
20 


150 

The  first  astronomers  of  the  Mexicans  had 
divided  the  revolution  of  the  moon  into  two 
periods  :  namely,  that  of  the  watching  and 
sleeping  of  the  moon.  These  two  divisions 
of  the  month,  are  undoubtedly  of  the  highest 
antiquity ;  for  thus  the  ancient  Hindoos  di 
vided  their  month  into  two  periods,  called 
the  light  and  dark  sides  of  the  moon,  and 
were  then  called  a  day  and  night  of  the 
gods;  the  bright  side  for  their  laborious 
exertions,  and  the  dark  one  for  their  sleep. 
(See  Asiat.  Res.  vol.  ii.  and  Hist.  Hind.  vol. 
i.p.  138  J 

A  circumstance  that  further  confirms  the  opinion^ 

that  the  Mexican  periods  of  thirteen  days  are 

rude  attempts  to  halving  the  months,  is  an 

account  of  the  Hindoo  year,  given  by  sir 

.     William  Jones,  in  Asiatic  Researches,  v.  ii. 

where  the  reckonings  are  kept  by  periods  of 

fifteen  days,  halves  of  their  months,  which 

consist  of  thirty  days. 

Why  the  number  four  was  esteemed,  we  cannot 
learn ;  but  a  veneration  for  that  number  has 
existed  in  many  parts  of  the  world,  from  the 
greatest  antiquity.  The  Greeks  and  Romans 
had  an  high  estimation  for  it.  The  chrono 
logy  of  Greece  was  kept  by  Olympiads,  pe 
riods  of  four  years,  so  called  from  the  Olym 
pic  games  being  celebrated  every  four  years. 
The  origin  of  these  games  was  so  remote, 
that  the  Greek  historians  could  not  date  the 


151 

time  of  their  first  institution.  The  Isthmian 
and  Panathenian  games  were  also  celebrated 
every  four  years,  the  mysteries  of  Elusis,  &c. 

The  Romans  had  a  period  of  five,  or,  as  Ovid  and 
some  others  say,  four  years,  called  the  Lus 
trum  ;  at  the  end  of  which,  the  whole  Roman 
people  were  purified.  Clavigero  says,  the 
Mexicans,  at  the  end  of  each  period  of  four 
years,  made  extraordinary  festivals;  but  does 
not  mention  particularities  of  them.  In  this 
case,  their  conformity  to  the  Lustrum  is 
striking. 

The  old  Irish,  according  to  general  Valancey, 
had  a  period  of  Jive  years,  called  Lusca ;  and 
so  also  had  the  Egyptians,  or  a  cycle  of  1825 
days.  (See  Ousely's  Orient.  Col.  vol.  ii.  p. 
332J 

The  division  of  the  month,  among  the  Romans, 
it  is  very  probable,  was  of  the  same  inven 
tion  as  the  Mexican  periods  of  five  and  thir 
teen  days.  The  Roman,  or  more  properly, 
the  Etruscan  month,  was  divided  into  Ca 
lends,  Nones,  and  Ides.  The  Calends  were 
merely  the  first  days  of  every  month.  But 
it  is  a  little  surprising  to  find,  that  in  eight 
months  of  the  twelve,  the  Nones  were  on 
\hefifth  days,  and  the  Ides  on  the  thirteenth 
days :  in  the  remaining  four  months,  thb 
Nones  fell  on  the  seventh,  and  the  Ides  on 
the  fifteenth  days. 


152 

The  Nones  were  so  called,  because  they  were 
nine  days  from  the   Ides,   counting  back-  . 
wards.     At  least,  that  is  the  explanation 
given ;  which  is  the  most  extraordinary  cal 
culation  we  know  of;   and  is  certainly  too 
complex  and  unnatural  to  have  been  the  ori 
ginal  method.     It  most  probably  had  a  si 
milar  origin  with  the  Mexican  periods  of 
five  days  to  their  months,  &c.  which  we  for 
merly  mentioned. 

As  to  the  derivation  and  meaning  of  the  word 
Ides,  authors  differ  materially.  It  may  be  of 
use  to  give  their  different  opinions,  which 
we  have  extracted  from  Rees's  Cyclopaedia. 
"  Some  derive  this  word  from  the  Greek 
idein,  to  see ;  because  the  full  moon  was 
commonly  seen  on  the  day  of  the  Ides. 
Others  from  eidos,  species,  figure  ;  on  ac 
count  of  the  image  of  the  full  moon  then  vi 
sible.  Others  from  Idulium,  or  Ovis  Idulis, 
a  name  given  by  the  Etrurians  to  a  victim 
offered  on  that  day  to  Jupiter ;  or  from  the 
Etrurian  word  iduo,  to  divide." 

Either  of  the  two  first  derivations  will  answer 
well  enough,  towards  proving  the  Ides  to 
have  been  much  of  a  similar  institution  as 
the  Hindoo  and  Mexican  division  of  the 
month  into  two  parts,  or  the  bright  and  dark 
sides  of  the  moon  :  thus,  from  the  Calends 
to  the  Ides  was  the  dark  side  of  the  month ; 


153 

but  on  the  Ides,  the  moon  was  full,  and  con 
tinued  so  to  the  ending  of  the  month,  which 
would  answer  to  the  bright  side. 
This  Mexican  division  of  the  month,  may  very 
probably  be  considered  as  one  of  the  very 
first  attempts  towards  forming  fixed  periods 
for  the  computation  of  time. 

Clavigero  remarks,  that  the  Mexican  year  consist 
ed  of  seventy-three  periods  of  five  days — and  the  re 
ligious  century  of  seventy-three  periods  of  thirteen 
months. 


This  number  seventy -three,  is  of  a  very  ancient 
and  mysterious  use ;  and  may  have  ancient 
ly  had  a  similar  origin  with  the  Hindoo  pe 
riod  seventy-one  or  two :  which,  according 
to  the  Asiatic  Society,  refers  to  the  preces 
sion  of  the  Equinoxes,  or  apparent  motion 
of  the  fixed  stars,  which  is  about  one  degree 
in  seventy -two  years. 

The  Hindoos  have  made  great  use  of  this  num 
ber  ;  and  on  the  multiplication  of  it  by  other 
astronomick  periods,  is  founded  the  enor 
mous  age  of  Hindoo  history  and  chronology. 
The  long  time  the  Mexicans  have  been  se 
parated  from  the  Hindoos,  and  other  people 
of  the  old  world,  may  sufficiently  account 
for  the  different  use  they  made  of  it. 


154 

At  the  end  of  the  seventy- three  periods  of  thirteen 
months,  which  make  fifty-two  years,  the  Mexicans 
broke  all  their  furniture,  utensils,  &c.  fearing  the  ap 
pointed  time  was  come  for  the  ending  of  the  world, 
which,  according  to  their  belief  would  happen  at  the 
end  of  some  of  their  periods  of  fifty -two  years.  As 
soon  as  assured  that  such  a  calamity  would  not  take 
place,  they  appropriated  the  ensuing  thirteen  days  to 
make  new  furniture.  On  this  occasion  great  enter 
tainments  were  given,  publick  games  and  dances  were 
exhibited,  with  illuminations,  and  great  demonstra 
tions  of  joy. 

This  superstition  of  the  Mexicans  appears  analo 
gous  to  the  belief  of  the  Burmas — who  ex 
pected  that  all  mankind  would  be  destroyed 
at  the  end  of  one  of  their  periods  of  sixty- 
four  years.  (See  Asiatic  Researches,  viii.J 

These  thirteen  days  were  not  attached  to  any  peri 
od  of  time,  but  were  intercalated  for  the  purpose  of 
arranging  the  seasons,  in  their  proper  places ;  for 
though  the  Mexicans  knew  the  correct  year  was  six 
hours,  more  than  three  hundred  and  sixty-five  days, 
yet  they  took  no  notice  of  it  until  fifty-two  years  had 
elapsed ;  by  which  time  the  continual  excess  of  six 
hours  each  year,  amounted  to  thirteen  days,  which 
were  then  intercalated,  and  on  their  ending,  a  new 
century,  year,  &c.  commenced. 

The  figure,  and  manner  of  keeping  an  account  of 


155 

their  century,  is  very  curious ;  but  as  it  can  be  of  lit 
tle  use  in  this  undertaking,  I  forbear  to  describe  it. 

Round  the  circle  containing  the  figure  of  the  cen 
tury,  was  a  serpent  twisted  into  four  knots,  which 
pointed  out  the  commencement  of  each  period  of 
thirteen  years. 

The  serpent  is  well  known  to  be  emblematical  of 
the  Deity,  the  sun,  &c.  generally  over  the 
world,  and  maintains  a  conspicuous  station 
in  the  astronomick  figures  of  most  nations. 
In  the  Mexican  figure  given  by  Clavigero, 
this  snake  has  a  hairy  head,  and  a  mouth  like 
the  beak  of  a  bird.  This  would  be  scarce 
worth  mentioning,  but  for  the  circumstance 
that  antiquarians  have  referred  all  serpents 
thus  figured  to  Egyptian  invention ;  but 
from  the  Mexicans  using  the  same  device, 
it  is  probably  as  ancient  as  any  other  symbol 
in  the  world. 

To  represent  the  year,  they  describe  a  circle  in 
which  eighteen  figures  were  drawn.  I  must  here 
remark  that  the  circle  is  divided  into  six  equal  parts, 
as  if  into  seasons,  though  Clavigero  does  not  notice 
the  circumstance,  the  figure  will  very  well  bear  a 
similar  explanation,  with  the  six  seasons  of  the  Hin 
doos. 

The  Chilian  year  consisted  of  12  months  or  moons, 
each  consisting  of  30  days, — they  also  intercalated 


156 

five  days,  though  it  is  not  known  at  what  time  of  the 
year  this  was  done. — The  year  commenced  on  the 
22d  of  December. — This  year  was  divided  into  four 
seasons,  answering  exactly  to  our  method, — the  day 
was  divided  into  twelve  equal  parts,  and  commenced 
from  midnight.  (Abbe  Molina's  History  of  Chili* 
ii.  84,  <3c.) 


157 


CHAPTER  XI. 

CLASSIFICATION  OF  THE  MEXICAN  PEOPLE. 

JL  HE  population  of  the  Mexican  empire  was  divided 
into  four  classes,  which,  if  not  originally  institued  by 
legal  authority,  were  allowed  by  universal  consent  and 
custom.  These  four  classes  were,  the  nobles,  priests, 
soldiers,  and  common  people ;  and  like  the  old  Egyp 
tians,  every  father  instructed  his  son  in  the  profession 
or  art  he  himself  had  followed. 

Diod.  Sicul.  says,  the  Egyptians  were  from  the 
earliest  times  divided  into  Jive  classes ;  the 
fifth  class,  however,  is  more  an  order  or  di 
vision  of  the  fourth  than  a  distinct  class,  for 
it  is  made  by  separating  the  mechanicks  from 
the  husbandmen. 

It  is  also  well  known  that  the  Hindoos,  from  the 
greatest  antiquity,  divided  their  people  into 
four  casts  or  classes,  and  which  are  the  same 
as  the  Mexican. 

21 


158 

We  will  not  give  any  other  views  of  the  policy,  or 
principles  of  government,  among  the  Mexicans ;  as 
such  an  investigation  alone,  would  require  a  greater 
bulk  than  our  whole  volume ; — the  curious  reader 
will  be  gratified  by  the  Abbe  Clavigero. — (See  the 
Second  volume  of  Hist*  of  Mexico.  J 


159 


CHAPTER  XII. 


MANNER  OP  WRITING,  8cc. 

A  HE  Peruvians  kept  their  records,  history,  &c.  by 
means  of  knotted  cords  called  quipos. 

This  method  of  preserving  the  remembrance  of 
past  events  is  of  very  ancient  use,  for  Du 
Halde  says,  in  his  History  of  China,  that 
"  Fo-hi,  first  emperour  of  China,  finding  the 
knotted  cords  used  by  the  Chinese  were 
unfit  to  publish  his  laws,  therefore  invented 
characters,  &c. 

Mr.  Marsden  observes,  that  the  Sumatrans  have 
a  similar  invention  with  the  Peruvian  qui 
pos  ;  he  even  supposes  the  one  an  improve 
ment  on  the  other. — (See  History  of  Suma 
tra,  154J 

The  Wampum  belts  of  the  Northern  Indians  are 
also  of  a  similar  device. 

The  Muysca  Indians  had  cyphers  to  express 
numbers. — (See  an  interesting  account  of 
this  people  in  HumboldPs  Researches,  ii.  119, 
et  sequitur.J 


160 

The  Mexicans  not  only  represented  the  simple 
linages  of  objects,  but  they  also  had  some  characters 
answering  like  the  signs  of  algebraists  for  things  de 
void  of  figure  or  of  difficult  representation. 

The  cloth  on  which  they  painted  was  made  of  the 
thready  part  of  the  aloe  or  palm.  They  also  used 
dressed  skins  and  paper.  In  general  their  paper  was 
made  in  very  long  pieces,  which  they  rolled  up  like 
the  ancient  parchments  of  Europe,  or  folded  up  like 
skreens. 

The  Siamese  manuscripts  preserved  in  the  pub- 
lick  Library  of  Paris,  are  folded  in  zigzag. 
(See  Humboldfs  Researches,  i.  163 J 


161 


CHAPTER  XIIL 


MILITARY  WEAPONS,  &c: 

Jl  HE  Mexicans  used  armour  made  of  quilted  cotton, 
plates  of  gold,  copper,  &c. ;  they  also  wore  helmets 
cut  into  figures  of  the  heads  of  wild  beasts,  serpents, 
&c,  precisely  similar  to  those  used  in  the  early  ages 
among  the  Greeks.  (See  Potter's  Antiquities. J 

In  place  of  a  sword,  they  used  a  large  square  stick, 
on  two  sides  of  which  sharp  pointed  flints  were  set 
like  the  teeth  of  a  large  saw. 

Captain  Cook,  in  one  of  his  voyages  to  the  Pa 
cific  ocean,  mentions  some  of  the  islanders 
using  an  instrument  in  battle  similar  to  this, 
with  the  trifling  difference  of  their  using 

sharks'  teeth,  instead  of  flints. 

$fc 

The  Mexicans  also  used  pikes  pointed  with  flints, 
or  with  copper  hardened  like  those  weapons  of  copper 
used  by  the  ancient  nations  of  the  old  world.  Their 
darts  were  fastened  to  leathern  thongs,  and  used  like 
the  old  Roman  spear. 

Their  stone  hatchets,  we  have  the  authority  of  the 


162 

Archselogia,  vol.  IX.  97,  to  assert,  are  similar  to 
those  frequently  found  in  Great  Britain,  and  which 
are  known  by  the  name  of  Celts. 

Baron  Humboldt  observes,  that  hatchets  of  jade, 
covered  with  Azteck  hieroglyphicks,  have 
been  brought  from  Mexico,  resembling  in 
their  form  and  nature  those  made  use  of  by 
the  Gauls,  and  those  we  find  among  the  Is 
landers  of  the  Pacific  ocean. — (Humboldfs 
Pers.  Nar.  i.  217  J 

The  copper  with  which  the  Mexican  pikes  were 
pointed,  appears  to  have  been  hardened  by 
an  amalgam  of  tin.  Baron  Humboldt  car 
ried  to  Europe  a  Peruvian  chisel,  found  near 
a  silver  mine,  worked  in  the  time  of  the  In- 
cas ;  the  metal  of  which  it  was  composed 
having  been  analysed,  was  found  to  contain 
0.94  of  copper,  and  0.6  of  tin  ; — this  copper 
is  almost  identical  with  that  used  in  the  an 
cient  Gallic  axes,  which  cut  wood  as  if  they 
had  been  made  of  steel. — (See  Hwnboldtfs 
Researches,  i.  260.^ 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

CEREMONIES  USED  AT  BIRTH,  MARRIAGE,  AND  BURIAL, 

THE  Mexicans  used  a  variety  of  ceremonies  on  the 
birth  of  a  child,  and  there  is  no  slight  resemblance  be 
tween  them  and  some  nations  in  the  old  world  on  si 
milar  occasions ;  but  as  there  are  circumstances  of 
greater  importance  to  relate,  we  forbear  to  enumerate 
them. 

The  rites  and  ceremonies  of  marriage  and  burial, 
are  too  remarkable  to  be  passed  over  in  a  cursory 
manner,  we  shall  therefore  relate  them  at  length. 

As  to  their  marriages,  when  a  young  man  arrived 
at  a  suitable  age,  a  wife  was  looked  out  for  him,  and 
diviners  consulted  on  the  subject.  If  they  augured 
ill,  the  match  was  given  over  entirely ;  but  if  the 
omens  were  interpreted  favourably,  the  oldest  and 
most  respectable  of  the  man's  female  relations  went  at 
midnight  to  the  girl's  parents  with  a  present,  and  de 
manded  her ;  which  demand  was  infallibly  refused. 
After  a  few  days,  these  women  went  again  and  used 
every  mean  and  entreaty  to  obtain  the  girl :  the  pa 
rents  then  asked  time  to  consider  on  it,  to  consult 
their  daughter's  inclinations  and  the  wishes  of  friends. 


164 

* 

The  man's  relations  after  this  went  no  more,  and 
the  girl's  parents  returned  an  answer  by  elderly  wo 
men  chosen  from  among  their  own  kindred  ;  apd  if 
favourable,  a  day  was  appointed  for  the  nuptials ;  on 
which  day  she  was  conducted  to  her  father-in-law's 
house,  with  numerous  company  and  musick  :  if  she 
was  noble  they  carried  her  in  a  litter.  The  bride 
groom  and  his  friends,  received  her  at  the  gate  of  the 
house ;  he  then  takes  her  by  the  hand  and  leads  her 
into  the  chamber  prepared  for  the  nuptials ;  they  were 
sat  down  upon  a  new  and  curiously  wrought  mat, 
spread  in  the  middle  of  the  chamber,  and  near  a  fire. 
The  priest  then  tied  the  mantle  of  the  bridegroom  to 
the  gown  of  the  bride  ;  and  in  this  ceremony,  the  ma 
trimonial  contract  chiefly  consisted.  The  wife  now 
made  several  turns  about  the  fire,  and  then  returning 
to  the  mat,  she  along  with  her  husband  offered  copal 
to  their  gods,  and  exchanged  presents  to  one  another, 
repast  followed  next;  the  married  couple  eat  upon 
the  mat,  giving  mouthfuls  to  one  another,  and  to  the 
guests :  after  the  feast,  and  when  the  guests  had  be 
come  exhilirated  with  wine,  they  went  out  into  the 
yard  to  dance,  but  the  new  married  pair  never  stirred 
from  the  chamber  for  four  days  !  They  passed  these 
four  days  in  prayers,  and  fasting,  dressed  in  new  ha 
bits,  and  adorned  with  the  ensigns  of  the  gods  of  their 
devotions,  and  drawing  blood  from  different  parts  of 
their  bodies.  These  austerities  were  observed  with 
the  greatest  exactness,  for  they  feared  the  heaviest 
punishments  of  their  gods,  if  the  marriage  was  con 
summated  before  the  end  of  these  four  days* 


165 

The  first  part  of  the  Mexican  marriage  ceremony, 
coincides  very  much  with  that  of  the  Ceylo- 
nese ;  see  Asiatic  Researches,  vol.  vii.  427. 

The  family  of  the  man  sends  a  friend  to  those  of 
the  woman,  to  sound  their  inclinations,  &c. 
and  generally  the  girl's  family  receive  notice 
of  it,  and  accordingly  give  a  feast  to  their 
guest :  a  few  days  afterwards,  the  nearest  and 
most  aged  relation  of  the  man,  pays  a  visit 
to  the  girl's  family,  and  informs  himself  of 
her  fortune  and  circumstances ;  and  if  they 
are  satisfactory,  he  proposes  an  alliance.  To 
this  he  receives  no  answer,  but  they  treat 
him  with  a  much  greater  feast  than  before, 
and  which  is  usually  a  sign  of  consent.  The 
next  day  a  relation  of  the  girl  visits  the  fa 
mily  of  the  young  man,  and  receives  a  con 
siderable  entertainment  in  his  turn ;  he 
makes  the  necessary  inquiries,  and  then  says, 
if  the  young  couple  are  satisfied,  it  would  be 
well  to  marry  them.  A  magician  is  then 
consulted  as  to  the  most  lucky  day,  hour, 
&c. 

The  marriages  of  the  Hindoos  are  remarkably  si 
milar  to  the  Mexicans.  See  Mr.  Colbrook's 
account  in  the  Asiat.  Research,  vol.  vii. 
509.  The  ceremonies  are  thus  recapitu 
lated. 

The  bridegroom  goes  in  procession  to  the  house 
of  the  bride's  father,  and  is  there  welcomed 
as  a  guest ;  the  bride  is  then  given  in  the 

22 


166 

usual  form  of  any  solemn  donation,  and  their 
hands  bound  together  with  grass;  the  bride 
groom  then  clothes  the  bride  with  an  upper 
and  lower  garment ;  then  the  skirts  of  their 
mantles  are  tied  together  !  the  bridegroom 
makes  oblations  to  the  fire,  and  tjie  bride 
drops  rice  upon  it,  and  after  several  in 
considerable  ceremonies,  the  company  is  dis 
missed,  the  marriage  being  now  complete, 
and  irrevocable.  In  the  evening  of  the  same 
day  the  bridegroom  points  out  to  her  the 
pole  star,  as  an  emblem  or  figure  of  con 
stancy;  during  the  three  subsequent  days, 
the  married  couple  must  live  chastely  and  aus 
terely  ;  and  after  these  three  days,  which  is 
the  fourth  from  the  celebration  of  the  mar 
riage  ceremony r,  the  bridegroom  conducts  the 
bride  to  his  own  house.* 

BURIAL. 

At  the  burial  of  common  persons,  the  Mexicans 
employed  elderly  persons  to  officiate  as  mourners. 
The  body  was  dressed  in  the  habit  of  the  god,  who 
was  patron  to  the  occupation  the  deceased  had  follow 
ed,  and  a  number  of  pieces  of  paper  were  placed  by 
him  as  passports  through  a  variety  of  dangers  to 
which  they  believed  the  soul  was  exposed.  If  he  had 
died  by  dropsy,  or  had  been  drowned,  they  buried  the 

*The  marriages  of  the  people  of  Thibet,  are  celebrated  by  three  days 
of  festivity ;  at  the  end  of  which  time,  the  nuptials  are  completed 
Pink.  Geog.  ii.  109. 


167 

body  entire,  with  provision  and  water  for  his  long  jour 
ney,  and  tied  a  string  round  the  neck  of  a  little  animal 
resembling  a  dog,  which  had  been  killed  for  the  pur 
pose  of  accompanying  and  guiding  the  departed  soul ; 
this  animal  was  burned  or  buried,  according  to  the 
particular  funeral  rites  of  his  deceased  master. 

If  they  burned  the  corpse,  the  ashes  were  collected 
in  an  earthen  pot,  and  along  with  them  they  put  a 
gem,  which  was  to  serve  as  a  heart  in  the  next  world. 
This  urn,  was  buried  in  a  deep  ditch ;  and  eighty 
days  afterwards,  they  made  oblations  of  bread  and 
wine  over  it. 

Those  who  were  buried  entire,  were  placed  in  a 
sitting  position,  with  arms,  or  the  instruments  of  the 
trade  they  had  followed  when  alive. 

On  the  death  of  the  king,  or  of  a  great  lord  or; 
chief,  some  other  forms  were  used.  When  the  king 
fell  sick,  they  put  a  mask  on  the  idol  Huitzilipochtli, 
and  one  also  on  the  image  of  Tezcaetlipoca,  which 
they  never  removed  until  the  king  either  died,  or  re 
covered.  If  he  died,  notice  was  given  of  it  in  great 
form,  that  those  residing  at  a  distance  might  be  pre 
sent  at  the  funeral.  The  corpse  was  laid  on  rich  mats, 
and  watched  until  the  fourth  or  fifth  day,  when  the 
lords  arrived,  bringing  with  them  rich  dresses,  orna 
mental  feathers,  slaves,  &c.  They  then  dressed  the 
corpse  with  fifteen  or  more  fine  cotton  habits,  dyed 
with  various  colours,  and  ornamented  with  gold, 
gems,  &c.  An  emerald  was  hung  at  the  upper  lip, 
to  serve  as  a  heart  in  the  future  world.  The  face 
was  covered  with  a  mask,  and  over  the  dresses  they 


168 

placed  the  ensign  of  the  god,  in  whose  temple  he  was 
to  be  interred.  Some  of  his  hair  was  then  cut  off, 
and  put  in  a  little  box  along  with  a  portion  that  had  been 
taken  off  in  his  infancy  ;  upon  this  box  was  laid  an 
image  of  the  deceased  king,  made  of  wood  or  stone. 
They  killed  his  private  priest  or  chaplain,  and  some 
slaves,  as  well  as  the  little  dog :  the  corpse,  &c.  was 
then  laid  on  the  fire  and  burned.  The  day  following, 
the  ashes  were  gathered,  and  the  gem  was  particularly 
looked  for.  These  remains  were  then  inclosed  in  the 
box  along  with  the  hair,  and  deposited  in  the  place 
destined  for  his  sepulchre ;  oblations  and  sacrifices 
were  made  at  different  stated  periods,  over  the  grave, 
until  eighty  days  had  elapsed. 

There  was  no  fixed  place  for  interring  the  dead. 
Many  ordered  their  bodies  to  be  buried  near  some 
temple  or  akar ;  some  again  wished  to  be  interred  in 
the  fields,  mountains,  &c. 

Some  ceremonies  used  at  the  Mexican  burials, 
have  been  very  general  over  the  world ;  par 
ticularly  in  that  superstition,  where  a  gem  or 
stone  is  placed  along  with  the  remains  of  the 
dead,  to  answer  the  purpose  of  a  heart  in  a 
future  world.  The  Hindoos  to  this  day,  (see 
Asiat.  Research.)  enclose  a  stone  with  the 
ashes  of  the  dead,  apparently  with  this  same 
intention. 

Mr.  Pegge,  in  his  observations  on  the  Staunton 
Moor  Urns,  see  Archaelogia,  vol.  viii.  58, 
says  that  in  these  druidical  monuments  which 


169 

all  contain  burned  human  bones,  is  found  a 
substance  which  is  supposed  to  be  mountain 
pitch,  and  which  is  cut  into  the  shape  of  a 
heart !  clearly  an  identical  practice  with  the 
Mexican  superstition. 

It  is  very  remarkable,  that  vases  should  be  found 
in  some  parts  of  America,  of  the  same  com 
position  with  the  Etruscan  Urns,  and  with 
their  very  scrolls  and  ornaments ;  see  Archae- 
logia,  vol.  v.  318.  These  urns,  in  Tho 
mas's  History  of  Printing,  are  further  said, 
like  the  Etruscan,  to  be  only  found  in  se 
pulchres. 


170 


CHAPTER  XV. 


AFTER  having  thus  examined  and  reviewed  the 
most  prominent  parts  of  American  institutions  and 
arts,  there  yet  remain  several  facts  and  circumstances 
to  be  noticed, — these  subjects  are  too  insignificant  to 
merit  a  separate  head,  and  we  have  therefore  brought 
them  all  together  in  this  last  chapter. 


The  Chinese,  Hindoos,  and  Old  Irish,  have  been 
by  many  authors  complimented  with  the  honour  of 
having  discovered  the  game  of  chess ;  but  it  appears 
that  the  original  invention  of  this  amusement  is  lost 
in  the  darkness  of  antiquity,  for  the  Araucanians,  a 
people  of  Chili,  in  South  America,  play  chess,  which 
has  been  known  to  them  from  time  immemorial; 
they  call  it  Comican. — (See  Hist.  Chili,  voL  ii.  108, 
by  Abbe  Molina.) 


The  Game  of  the  Flyers^  we  notice  in  this  place, 
as  M.  Denon  in  the  plates  to  his  Travels  in  Egypt, 
has  given  the  copy  of  some  figures  taken  from  the 


171 


Egyptian  hicroglyphicks,  which  have  every  appear 
ance  of  a  similar  design  with  this  Mexican  amuse 
ment  or  ceremony. — The  similarity  of  device  will  be 
best  seen,  by  comparing  the  plate  given  by  Clavi- 
gero,  with  the  (Ixiii.  plate)  of  Denon's  Atlas,  &c. 


"  The  Intendancy  of  Oaxaca  contains  the  walls 
of  the  palace  of  Mitla,  which  are  decorated  with 
Grecques,  and  labyrinths  in  Mosaic,  of  small  porphy 
ry  stones.  We  perceive  in  them  the  same  design, 
which  we  admire  in  the  vases  falsely  called  Tuscan, 
or  in  the  frieze  of  the  old  temple  of  Deus  Redicolus, 
near  the  grotto  of  the  nymph  Egeria  at  Rome," — 
(Humboldt's  Polit.  Essay,  ii.  155  J 

"  But  what  distinguishes  the  ruins  of  Mitla  from 
all  other  remains  of  Mexican  architecture,  is  six  por 
phyry  columns,  which  are  placed  in  the  midst  of  a 
vast  hall,  and  supports  the  ceiling, — they  have  nei 
ther  base  nor  capital. 

"  The  distribution  of  the  apartments  of  this  singu 
lar  edifice,  bears  a  striking  analogy  to  what  has  been 
remarked  in  the  monuments  of  Upper  Egypt,  drawn 
by  M.  Denon,  and  the  savans  who  compose  the  in 
stitute  of  Cairo."— (Ibid,  157 J 

Though  pillars  appear  to  have  been  very  little  used 
by  the  American  Indians,  yet  there  are  other  instan 
ces  of  their  erection — as  see  the  following : 

"  Between  the  hills  of  Mendoza  and  La  Punta, 
upon  a  low  range  of  hills,  is  a  pillar  of  stone  one  hun 
dred  and  fifty  feet  high,  and  twelve  in  diameter — it 


172 

has  marks  or  inscriptions  upon  it  resembling  Chi* 
nese." — (Molina's  Hist.  Chili,  i.  notes  169.  J 

This  very  much  reminds  us  of  the  pillar  and  obe 
lisks  of  ancient  Egypt. 


I  do  not  know  how  to  account  for  the  following 
superstition  having  such  an  universal  credence. 

"  The  ancient  inhabitants  of  Europe,  during  eclip 
ses  of  the  moon,  believed  that  it  was  occasioned  by 
the  attacks  of  a  dragon  who  wished  to  devour  her, — 
to  prevent  this  misfortune  they  made  great  noises, 
and  encouraged  the  moon  to  an  effectual  resistance ; 
— the  same  belief,  and  the  same  superstitious  prac 
tices,  still  exists  in  Japan,  in  China,  Siam,  India,  Tar- 
tary,  among  the  Curdes,  Laplanders,  the  negroes  who 
dwell  on  the  banks  of  the  Senegal,  and  in  Peru."— * 
(See  Des  Cultes  Anterieur  a  Uldolatrie,  273. J 


The  Mexicans  had  sacred  animals,  of  whom  they 
appear  to  have  entertained  a  respect  and  veneration 
similar  to  that  shewn  by  the  ancient  Egyptians; — by 
the  following  account  it  will  be  seen  that  the  Mexi 
cans  embalmed  and  buried  with  care  and  respect, 
these  quadruped  deities. 

In  volume  second  of  Humboldt's  Researches,  men 
tion  is  made  of  the  discovery  of  a  tomb,  filled  with 
fine  sand,  and  containing  a  well  preserved  skeleton 
of  a  carniverous  animal,  which  he  thought  was  the 
coyote  or  Mexican  wolf; — clay  vases  and  small  well 


173 

cast  brass  bells,  were  placed  near  the  bones.  The 
writers  of  the  16th  century  inform  us,  that  the  Mexi 
cans  erected  small  chapels  to  the  wolf,  the  tiger,  the 
eagle,  and  the  snake. 


The  following  facts  show  a  singular  similarity  to 
have  once  existed  between  the  old  and  new  world, 
and  the  great  antiquity  of  the  Indians  or  Aborigines 
of  America. 

There  was  a  rock  at  Berkely  Springs,  Virginia,  of  se 
veral  tons  weight,  which  was  so  exactly  balanced  upon 
another,  that  a  trifling  force  applied  to  it  would  cause 
it  to  vibrate,  and  yet  a  considerable  power  was  inca 
pable  to  remove  it ; — on  the  top,  which  would  hold 
eight  or  ten  persons,  was  a  bason  excavated. 

This  curious  monument  has  been  generally  over 
looked,  and  considered  as  a  fortuitous  arrangement 
of  nature ;  but  to  those  conversant  with  the  antiqui 
ties  of  Great  Britain,  it  must  be  evident  that  it  is  pre 
cisely  similar  to  those  Druidical  monuments  called 
Rocking  Stones.  The  circumstance  of  a  bason  being 
excavated  confirms  the  character  of  the  rock,  for  thus 
are  most  of  the  rocking  stones  in  England  described. 

Mr.  Bryant  says,  "that  wherever  those  monuments 
occur,  we  may  esteem  them  of  the  highest  antiquity. 
Such  works  are  generally  referred  to  the  Celts  and 
Druids ;  but  they  were  the  operations  of  a  very  remote 
age,  probably  before  the  time  when  the  Druids  and 
Celts  were  first  known.  There  is  reason  to  believe 
that  these  monuments  and  Stonehenge  were  erected 

23 


174 

by  one  of  the  first  colonies  that  ever  arrived  here," 
(England.) — (See  Bryant's  Anal,  voL  Hi.  533J* 

I  have  seen  an  account  of  several  similar  rocking 
stones,  in  Kendall's  travels  through  the  northern  parts 
of  America;  he  very  justly  calls  them  the  same  as 
those  in  England. — (See  vol.  ii.  p.  49,  of  his  Tra 
vels. J 

A  gentleman,  and  relation,  presented  me  with  a 
phallus,  or  priapus,  which  was  found  in  or  near  Chi- 
licothe,  Ohio;  it  is  the  only  one  I  have  ever  heard  of 
being  found  here.  This  stone  figure  is  now  in  the 
Hall  of  the  American  Philosophical  Society. 

To  this  day,  the  phallus  is  worshipped  in  Hindostan, 
and  was  once  an  object  of  adoration  generally  over  the 
world. f  It  adds  another  argument  in  favour  of  that 
ancient  connexion  of  our  Aborigines  with  the  old 
continent,  which  we  have  so  often  mentioned  in  pre 
ceding  pages. 

*  Bryant  also  observes,  that  the  Egyptians  venerated  rocking-  stones, 
that  on  some  of  these  stones  they  merely  placed  an  hieroglyphick,  and 
others  they  shaped  into  different  figures.  ('Bryant's  Analysis,  Hi.  531.  J 

The  Rock  of  Inti-guacu  engraved  with  the  figure  of  the  sun,  appears 
to  be  of  this  kind.  ("See  Humboldfs  Researches,  octavo,  i.  247 .J 

f  Traces  of  the  worship  of  Priapus  was  observed  in 'the  Sandwick 
Islands.  fSee  Cook's  Voyage,  vi.  206 3. J 


175 


CONCLUDING  REMARKS. 

JLT  must  be  evident,  from  the  analysis  which  we  have 
just  finished,  that  the  Mexicans,  &c.  were  not  a  rude 
and  barbarously  ignorant  people,  but  on  the  contrary, 
that  they  possessed  a  very  considerable  degree  of 
knowledge,  not  only  of  the  arts,  but  also  of  some 
sciences.  This  knowledge  they  have  correctly  pre 
served  through  so  many  centuries,  that  the  sources 
whence  it  was  derived  have  long  since  been  forgot 
ten.  It  is,  however,  radically  and  positively  the  same 
with  much  of  the  learning  of  ancient  Egypt,  Hindos- 
tan,  Chaldea,  &c. ;  yet  under  these  circumstances, 
we  find  the  language  and  character  of  the  American 
Indians,  totally  dissimilar  to  any  nation  or  people 
whom  history  has  preserved  records  of.  The  de 
duction  from  this  is  evident,  namely,  that  this  know 
ledge  must  have  been  obtained  at  that  time,  when  all 
mankind  used  one  language  and  had  an  equal  oppor 
tunity  of  receiving  information. 

That  the  Mexicans  and  other  Americans  cannot  be 
derived  from  any  nation  or  people  of  the  old  world,  is 
clear,  else  we  should  find  them  using  the  same  cycles, 
years,  months,  emblems,  deities,  traditions,  &c.  We 
ought  to  find  a  pointed  similarity  in  language,  man- 


176 

ners,  dress,  &c.  But  can  this  be  done  ?  No; — ana 
logies,  similarities,  or  parallels,  may  be  brought  for 
ward  like  we  have  done,  which  show  a  connexion  to 
have  existed  once  between  the  Aborigines  of  Ame 
rica  and  the  nations  of  the  old  world ;  but  in  no  man 
ner  can  it  be  shown,  that  any  nation  of  the  globe  has 
such  an  individual  and  unique  resemblance  to  the 
Americans,  as  could  induce  us  to  believe  them  colo 
nies,  or  emigrants  from  such  a  people  :  else  would 
not  learning,  talent,  and  genius,  have  shown  their 
origin,  when  the  Egyptians,  Hebrews,  Phoenicians, 
Welsh,  Norwegians,  Tartars,  and  in  short  every  na 
tion  of  Kurope  or  Asia,  with  few  exceptions,  have 
been  supposed  by  different  writers  to  have  colonized 
America. 

We  find  our  Indians  have  very  correct  traditions 
of  the  flood  and  confusion  of  languages ;  but  after 
this  latter  event,  the  chain  which  connected  them 
with  the  old  world  is  broken.  Cush,  Belus,  Nim- 
rod,  and  others,  may  be  found  in  most  of  the  mytho 
logies  of  the  old  world  when  carefully  analysed ;  but 
our  Indians  relate  nothing  of  these  mighty  persona 
ges, — a  proof  of  their  very  early  separation  from  the 
old  world,  before  the  greatness  of  these  men  had 
spread  over  the  different  parts  of  the  earth. 

This  antiquity  of  the  Mexicans  and  other  Ameri 
cans,  is  apparent  from  all  their  institutions,  rites,  &c. 
being  of  the  most  ancient  invention  and  discovery,  as 
we  have  proved  by  the  earliest  writings  of  the  old 
world,  and  from  nations  widely  separated. 

Now  had  they  migrated  much  later  than  the  time 


177 

we  have  supposed,  we  should  find  them  using  many 
inventions,  See.  which  have  been  known  from  great 
antiquity,  to  have  existed  in  the  old  world. 

Baron  Humboldt  has  made  an  observation  in  his 
writings,  which  shews  he  entertained  a  similar  opi 
nion  of  the  great  antiquity  of  the  South  American 
people ;  and  though  he  does  not  fix  the  date  as  we 
have  done,  yet  his  observations  must,  of  necessity, 
resolve  themselves  into  the  very  same  period. 

"  It  has  been  impossible  hitherto  to  mark  the 
epocha  at  which  time  there  was  a  communication  be 
tween  the  inhabitants  of  the  old  and  new  worlds,  and 
it  would  be  useless  to  attempt  designating  what  par 
ticular  people  of  the  ancient  world  offer  the  greater 
number  of  analogies,  with  the  Toltecas,  the  Azticas, 
(Mexicans,)  the  Muyscas,  or  the  Peruvians,  since 
these  similarities  or  resemblances  are  manifested  in 
traditions,  monuments  and  usages,  which  perhaps  are 
anteriour  to  the  actual  division  of  the  Asiaticks  into 
Mongols,  Hindoos,  Toungouse  or  Chinese." — (Hum- 
bolt's  Introd.  to  Mon  of  America.} 

Sir  William  Jones  says,  that  the  Hindoos,  old  Per 
sians,  Ethiopians,  Egyptians,  Phoenicians,  Greeks, 
Tuscans,  Scythians  or  Goths,  Celts,  Chinese,  Japan 
ese,  and  Peruvians,  had  an  immemorial  connexion 
with  one  another ;  and  as  there  appears  no  reason  for 
believing  that  they  were  a  colony  from  any  one  of 
those  nations,  or  any  one  of  those  nations  from  them, 
we  may  fairly  conclude  that  they  all  proceeded  from 
the  same  common  central  country. — ( See  Asiat.  Re 
search,  vol.  i.  p.  540.^ 


178 

Thus  has  this  great  and  learned  writer  supported 
our  hypothesis ;  and  with  his  weighty  opinion  we  con 
clude  an  essay  which  has  in  many  other  passages  been 
entirely  supported  by  the  deserved  greatness  of  his 
illustrious  name. 


APPENDIX 


BRYANT'S  OPINION  ON  PELEG. 


IT  was  mentioned  in  a  former  part  of  this  essay, 
that  the  celebrated  Bryant  had  given  an  opinion  as  to 
the  meaning  of  the  verse  relative  to  Peleg  :  see  Gen. 
chap.  x.  ver.  25.  And  unto  Heber  -were  bom  two  sons; 
the  name  of  one  was  Peleg,  for  in  his  days  was  the 
earth  divided.  As  the  authority  of  his  name  is  so  de 
servedly  great,  his  opinion  will  be  here  considered,  in 
order  to  show  that  we  have  sacrificed  nothing  to  theo 
ry  ;  and  also,  in  what  points  his  opinion  appears  to  be 
faulty. 

His  belief  is,  that  in  Peleg's  days  mankind  had 
been  ordered  by  God  to  disperse  and  settle  the  differ 
ent  parts  of  the  earth ;  and  that  all  but  the  children  of 
Cush  had  obeyed  this  injunction.  They,  wishing  to 
found  a  great  and  mighty  kingdom  among  them- 


180 

selves,  refused  to  obey  that  command ;  and  from  fear 
of  being  scattered,  they  built  the  tower  and  city  of 
Babel,  as  a  mark  or  beacon  ;  and  that  then  the  Al 
mighty,  to  oblige  them  to  separate,  confounded  their 
language,  and  thus  forced  them  to  scatter  through  the 
earth  :  thus  making  the  confusion  of  language,  &c. 
only  among  the  Cushites ;  being  of  a  partial  and  not 
a  universal  effect. 

If,  according  to  Mr.  Bryant's  supposition,  the  Ark 
rested  on  Mount  Baris,  and  that  in  the  country  around 
it  mankind  settled  after  the  deluge,  and  that  from  that 
place  they  were  ordered  to  disperse  over  the  world, 
most  certainly  the  Cushites  had  fulfilled  the  command 
by  going  1200  miles,  which  is  about  the  distance 
from  Mount  Baris  to  Babel. 

But  there  are  greater  objections  to  Mr.  Bryant's 
opinion :  for  it  is  the  earth  which  is  said  to  have  been 
divided  in  Peleg's  days  :  nor  has  it  any  reference  to 
man  individually  considered.  The  name  or  word 
Peleg,  according  to  Mr.  Bryant  himself,  means  to  se 
ver  and  divide.  Now  in  Peleg's  days,  he  says  that  all 
mankind  but  the  Cushites  separated  in  obedience  to 
the  will  of  God.  If  so,  how  can  we  associate  the 
strong  forcible  expression  sever  and  divide,  to  a  sepa 
ration  which  he  says  was  done  in  an  obedient  and 
peaceable  manner. 

This  opinion  of  Mr.  Bryant,  though  maintained  by 
him  with  great  erudition,  has  had  very  few  defenders 
among  latter  writers.  As  to  his  opinion  that  the  event 
related  of  Peleg  took  place  before  the  confusion  at 


181 

Shinar,  it  is,  as  we  have  formerly  shown,  most  pro- 
ble,  that  it  did  not  take  place  until  long  after. 

With  respect  to  the  confusion-  at  Babel,  it  is  suffi 
cient  to  read  the  account  in  Genesis,  to  be  satisfied 
that  Mr.  Bryant  was  incorrect  in  supposing  it  partial 
and  confined  to  the  Cushites. 

The  principal  argument  used  by  this  celebrated 
writer  is,  that  the  Hebrew  word  col  aretz,  which  is 
rendered  whole  earth  in  the  history  of  the  confusion, 
is  frequently  used  whole  land  or  province.  This  he 
thinks  confirms  his  idea  that  the  confusion  of  lan 
guage  was  only  among  the  Cushites,  &c.  That  the 
confusion  was  partial  and  only  in  the  land  of  Shinar, 
Moses  gives  us  every  reason  so  to  believe ;  for  all 
mankind  were  there  assembled.  But  there  does  not 
appear  in  that  narration,  any  ground  for  believing  it 
partial  in  its  influence  on  man. 


24 


182 


A  REMARKABLE  AVATAR. 

\ 

AMONG  the  Avatars  or  Incarnations  of  Veshnu, 
the  Hindoo  preserver  of  the  world,  is  the  remarkable 
one  of  his  descending  from  Heaven  under  the  form  of 
a  tortoise,  to  support  the  earth  labouring  under  some 
violent  convulsion. 

Mr.  Hastings  presented  a  book  concerning  the 
Avatars  to  the  society  of  Antiquarians,  where  this  the 
third  One  is  designated,  representing  Veshnu's  descent 
in  the  form  of  a  tortoise  to  support  the  Earth,  sinking 
in  the  sea.  See  vol.  1,  Anc.  Hist.  Hind. 

The  explanation  of  this  Avatar,  given  by  the  Hin 
doos,  is,  that  the  earth  was  assaulted  by  the  evil  genii 
and  demons,  who  churned  the  ocean  with  a  vast 
mountain,  the  effect  of  which  is  thus  described  in 
their  extravagant  mythology  :  "  The  roaring  of  the 
ocean,  whilst  violently  agitated  with  the  whirling  of 
the  mountain,  was  like  the  bellowing  of  a  mighty 
cloud ;  thousands  of  the  various  productions  of  the 
waters  were  torn  to  pieces  and  confounded  with  the 
briny  flood  ;  and  every  specifick'being  of  the  deep  and 
all  the  inhabitants  of  the  great  abyss  which  is  below 
the  earth,  were  annihilated;  whilst  from  the  violent 
agitation  of  the  mountain,  the  forest  trees  were  dashed 


183  N 

against  each  other  and  precipitated  from  their  heights, 
with  all  the  birds  thereon,  from  the  violent  con  fric 
tion  of  all  which  a  raging  volcanick  fire  was  produced, 
involving  the  whole  mountain  in  smoke  and  fire. — 
(See  vol.  L  569,  Indian  Antiq.J 

Mr.  Maurice  thinks  this  Avatar  alludes  to  the  uni 
versal  deluge ;  but  perhaps  there  is  more  reason  in 
connecting  it  with  the  submersion  of  land,  as  we  have 
formerly  discussed ;  for  the  two  preceding  Avatars 
very  accurately  describe  the  Noachic  flood  and  de 
struction  of  mankind  all  to  seven  or  eight  persons  ; 
but.  in  this  Avatar,  the  convulsion  is  partial  tmd  cir- 
cu  inscribed.  Also,  the  volcanick  fires,  confirming  the 
account  of  earthquakes,  &c.  related  by  the  Egyptian 
priest  to  Solon  in  his  story  of  Aialantis,  and 'their  pre 
sence  remarkable  in  many  islands  of  the  Atlantick, 
Pa  :ifick  and  Indian  oceans. 

Major  Wilford  observes,  that  this  story  of  the 
churning  of  the  sea,  "owes  perhaps  its  origin  to  some 
strange  convulsion  of  nature  in  that  part  of  the  world, 
(which  he  thinks  was  around  the  British  Islands,)  ac 
companied  with  dreadful  storms,  and  some  irruption 
of  the  sea ;  in  consequence  of  which,  the  shores  of 
the  cauldron-like  sea,  were  strewed  with  the  wrecks 
of  nature,  in  that  part  of  the  country  ;  such  as  plants 
and  trees,  torn  from  the  adjacent  country,  with  large 
masses  of  amber  and  ambergris,  which  are  only  the 
coarser  parts  of  the  celestial  amrit  or  ambrosia ;  there 
are  certainly  obvious  vestiges  remaining  of  such  a 


184 


dreadful  catastrophe  ;  such  as  the  Giant's  Causeway, 
on  the  Irish  coast,  and  other  remains  of  volcanick  con 
vulsions  on  the  adjacent  shores  of  Scotland." — (Asi. 
Researches,  xi.  140.^ 


185 


THE  tradition  of  the  separation  of  England  from 
France  is  mentioned  in  a  manner  so  consonant  to  our 
theory,  by  the  poet  Collins,  that  I  cannot  forbear  in 
serting  the  extract : 


Beyond  the  measure  vast  of  thought, 
The  works  the  wizard  time  has  wrought, 
The  Gaul)  'tis  held  of  ancient  story, 

Saw  Britain  linked  to  his  now  adverse  strand, 
No  sea  between,  nor  cliff  sublime  and  hoary, 

He  pass'd  with  unwet  feet  through  all  our  land. 
To  the  blown  Baltic  then  they  say, 
The  wild  waves  found  another  way 
Where  Orcas  howls  his  wolfish  mountains  rounding, 

Till  all  the  banded  west  at  once  *gan  rise, 
A  wide  wild  storm  e'en  nature's  self  confounding, 

Withering  her  giant  sons  with  strange  uncouth  surprize. 
This  pillared  earth,  so  firm  and  -wide, 

By  -winds  and  inward  labours  torn, 
In  thunders  dread  was  push' d  aside, 

And  do-wn  the  shouldering'  billo-ws  borne. 
And  see  like  gems  her  laughing  train, 

The  little  isles  on  every  sidet  Me. 

Collins'  Ode  to  Liberty. 


186 


ON  THE  SEPTUAGINT. 

JL  HE  following  extract  from  an  introductory  lecture 
of  Thomas  Cooper,  Esq.  delivered  at  Carlisle  in 
1812,  fully  answers  my  object  in  defending  this  ver 
sion. 

"  Without  adopting  the  fabulous  account  of  Aris- 
tceus,  and  his  seventy-two  interpreters,  it  appears  most 
likely,  that  the  most  authentick  copy  of  the  Jewish 
scriptures  would  have  been  furnished  or  sought  out 
for  the  purpose  of  that  version,  whether  undertaken 
at  royal  instigation  or  by  private  persons  from  private 
motives.  It  would  naturally  be  the  interest  equally 
of  the  Jewish  nation,  and  of  the  learned  men  of  that 
day,  that  this  should  be  the  case. 

"  Neither  does  there  seem  to  be  any  adequate  as 
signable  reason,  why  genealogical  or  chronological 
mutilations  or  interpolations  should  have  passed  with 
out  observation,  under  the  circumstances  of  a  version 
that  must  have  attracted  much  notice  at  the  time. 

"  The  quotations  out  of  the  Old  Testament,  made 
not  only  by  our  Saviour  and  his  apostles,  but  by  the 
more  ancient  fathers  also,  are  allowed  to  be  from  the 
Septuagint  version  or  its  original,  being  in  many 
places  conformable  to  this  copy,  and  differing  from 
the  Hebrew  text.  I  refer  generally  for  proofs  of  this 


187 

to  Pezron's  Antiquite  de  Terns  Retablie ;  and  the 
second  chapter  of  Carponius,  page  526,  et  seq. 

"  It  is  notorious  that  the  Christians  of  the  three  first 
centuries,  universally  counted  5500  years  from  the 
creation  to  the  birth  of  Christ.  This  is  distinctly 
admitted  by  Joseph  Scaliger,  in  his  Prolegomena  in 
Chron.  Eusebii. 

"  The  best  qualified  among  the  moderns  as  well  ag 
among  the  ancients,  to  judge  of  this  question,  hav# 
preferred  this  version,  or  the  Samaritan.  Was  not 
Josephus  capable  of  adopting  the  most  authentick  chro 
nology  of  his  own  country,  himself  a  Jew  ? 

"  And  lastly,  I  confess  myself  prejudiced  in  favour 
of  that  copy,  which  harmonizes  most  easily  with  au 
thenticated  facts  of  profane  history." — (See  intro 
ductory  lecture  of  Thomas  Cooper -,  Esq.  delivered  at 
Carhsle,  1812J 


To  this  I  will  only  add  the  two  following  authori 
ties. 

"  The  Babylonian  and  Jerusalem  Talmuds,  which 
contain  the  opinions  of  the  most  ancient  Rabbis,  give 
the  highest  commendation  to  the  version  of  the  Sep- 
tuagint. — ( Jackson'' s  Chron.  Antiq.  i.  82  et  seq.) 

The  book  of  the  patriarch  Enoch,  which  is  as  an 
cient  as  the  Christian  era,  at  the  least,  gives  its  autho 
rity  in  favour  of  the  Septuagint,  by  their  dates  agree 
ing.  ( Jackson*  s  Chron.  Antiq.  i.  59  to  63. } 


188 


ON  THE  SIMILARITIES  THAT  EXIST  BETWEEN  NATIONS. 


N  attempt  to  explain  the  similarities  existing 
among  the  different  nations  of  the  earth,  has  been 
made  on  the  principle,  "  that  men  under  similar  cir 
cumstances  will  act  similarly."  —  (See  Decline  and 
Fall  of  the  Roman  Empire.)  —  This  theory  sounds 
very  well,  but  we  see  that  men  do  not  act  thus  in 
reality  ;  —  we  find  that  all  mankind  want  clothing, 
food,  and  comforts  of  various  kinds  ;  —  now  how  will 
this  principle  account  for  the  difference  existing  be- 
tween  nations  ;  we  find  the  Europeans  well  clothed, 
fed,  and  housed;—  this  improvement,  or  civilization, 
is  said  to  have  originated  from  their  wants,  —  how  is 
it,  then,  that  the  savages  of  Asia,  Africa,  and  Ameri 
ca,  have  not  universally  civilized  themselves  too  ?  they 
have  to  this  day  the  very  same  wants,  they  daily  ex 
perience  hunger,  and  privations  of  many  different 
kinds.  —  O  but  it  is  said,  —  they,  knowing  no  better, 
absolutely  are  ignorant  that  they  are  in  want:  —  Well 
then,  how  did  the  Europeans  first  discover  that  they 
were  in  want  of  the  comforts,  which  we  find  they  now 
enjoy  ? 

For  my  part,  I  believe,  that  unless  man  had  been 
created  civilized,  he  would  never  have  risen  to  it  by 


189 

his  own  exertions  ; — we  see,  when  left  to  ourselves, 
how  degraded  we  are.  Look  at  the  Esquimaux,  or 
New  Hollanders;  these  men  have  experienced  wants 
for  ages, — yet  are  they  in  the  least  improved  ? — has 
an  Ourang-Outang  less  comfort  than  an  inhabitant  of 
Terra  Del  Fuego  ? — or  is  a  beaver  worse  fed,  or 
lodged,  than  a  Kamtschadale  ? 1  think  not. 


25 


190 


ON  THE  GALY  YOUG. 

"  JLN  the  year  1687,  when  M.  La  Loubere  returned 
from  his  embassy  to  the  king  of  Siam,  he  brought 
along  with  him  a  Siamese  manuscript,  containing 
astronomical  tables,  and  the  method  of  employing 
them  in  calculating  the  places  of  the  sun  and  moon. 
These  tables  were  explained  by  the  celebrated  Cas- 
sini,  who  found  that  their  epoch  corresponds  to  the 
21st  of  March,  638  of  our  era,  and  that  they  are 
founded  on  the  supposition  that  the  tropical  year  is 
365  days,  5  hours,  50  minutes  and  40  seconds,  a  de 
termination  which  differs  only  1  minute  and  53  se 
conds  from  that  employed  in  the  new  solar  tables  of 
Delambre. — These  tables  involve  also  the  equation 
of  the  sun's  centre,  the  two  chief  equations  of  the 
moon,  and  the  metonick  cycle  of  19  years. — Two 
other  sets  of  astronomical  tables,  one  from  Chrishna- 
bouram,  and  the  other  from  Narsapour,  were  sent  to 
Paris  by  the  missionaries  in  Hindostan ;  but  they  did 
not  excite  the  notice  of  astronomers  till  M.   Gentii 
returned  from  India,,  possessed  of  the  new  tables  of 
Tirvalore,  and  instructed  by  the  Brahmins  in  their 
methods  of  calculation.     These  precious  remains  of 
antiquity  have  been  diligently  examined  and  compar- 


191 

ed  by  the  celebrated  Mr.  Bailli,  in  his  Traite  de 
1^  Astronomic  Indienne  et  Onentale,  with  that  saga 
city  and  eloquence  which  characterize  all  the  writings 
of  that  illustrious,  but  unfortunate,  astronomer. — He 
has  found  that  the  epoch  of  the  Tirvalore  tables  co 
incides  with  the  year  3 102  before  the  Christian  era ; 
and  has  shewn,  by  a  train  of  sound  and  convincing 
argument,  that  this  epoch  is  not  fictitious,  but  found 
ed  on  real  observations,  which  must  have  been  made 
even  before  the  commencement  of  the  Caly  Youg. 
These  high  pretensions  to  antiquity,  which  M.  Bailli 
has  claimed  for  the  Indian  astronomy,  have  been  ad 
mitted  by  many  distinguished  philosophers,  and  have 
been  recently  defended  by  professor  Playfair  of  Edin 
burgh,  with  an  acuteness  of  reasoning,  and  a  clear 
ness  of  illustration  peculiar  to  that  eloquent  writer. — 
On  this  subject,  however,  a  difference  of  opinion  still 
exists  among  astronomers.  La  Place  has  endeavour 
ed  to  prove,  though  not  with  his  usual  success,  that 
the  epoch  of  3102  was  invented  for  the  purpose  of 
giving  a  common  origin  in  the  zodiack  to  all  the 
motions  of  the  heavenly  bodies,  and  that  the  tables 
have  either  been  constructed  or  corrected  in  modern 
times  ;  but  he,  at  the  same  time,  allows  that  the  re 
markable  accuracy  of  the  mean  motions  assumed  in 
their  construction,  could  have  arisen  only  from  very 
ancient  observations, — Other  astronomers,  less  can 
did  than  La  Place,  and  less  entitled  to  pronounce  a 
decided  opinion,  have  ascribed  the  astronomy  of  the 
Indians  to  the  instructions  which  they  received  from 
Pythagoras, — while  another  class  has  maintained,  that 


192 

astronomy  was  carried  to  India  by  the  Arabs,  about 
the  middle  of  the  ninth  century ; — the  merits  of  these 
different  opinions  our  readers  will  be  able  to  appreci 
ate  from  a  general  view  of  the  reasoning  employed  by 
Bailli  and  professor  Play  fair. 

If  the  epoch  of  3 102  is  fictitious,  and  has  been  de 
termined  by  calculation  from  observations  of  a  mo 
dern  date,  the  mean  places  of  the  sun  and  moon,  as 
sumed  at  that  period,  the  inequalities  in  the  motions 
of  those  luminaries,  the  obliquity  of  the  ecliptick,  the 
length  of  the  tropical  year,  and  the  places  of  the  fixed 
stars,  must  all  differ  from  their  real  values,  or  those 
which  would  have  been  ascertained  from  actual  ob 
servation;  by  quantities  depending,  in  some  measure, 
on  the  errours  of  the  modern  epoch,  but  chiefly  on 
those  minute  variations  arising  from  the  theory  of 
gravity,  which  the  elements  themselves  have  under 
gone,  and  which  were  discovered  only  towards  the 
close  of  the  18th  century.  If  we  should  therefore 
find,  that  all  these  elements  as  assumed  at  the  epoch 
of  3102,  are  nearly  the  same  as  if  they  had  been  then 
determined  by  observation  ;  or,  as  if  they  had  been 
deduced  from  a  modern  epoch  by  calculations  in 
volving  the  acceleration  of  the  moon,  the  variation  in 
the  precession  of  the  equinoxes,  the  change  of  the 
obliquity  of  the  ecliptick,  &c. — -we  have  only  two  al 
ternatives,  either  to  believe  that  the  epoch  of  3102  is 
real,  and  the  Indian  astronomy  of  high  antiquity,  or 
that  the  Brahmins  at  the  period  of  the  modern  epoch, 
were  completely  acquainted  with  the  theory  of  gra 
vity,  and  with  all  the  refinements  of  modern  analysis. 


193 

From  the  delineation  of  the  zodiack,  for  example, 
which  La  Gentil  brought  from  India,  it  appears,  that 
the  star  Aldebaran  was  40  minutes  before  the  vernal 
equinox  in  3102 ;  now  if  we  take  the  precession  of 
the  equinoxes  at  50 1  seconds,  and  employ  the  ine 
quality  in  the  precession  discovered  by  La  Grange, 
we  shall  find  by  calculating  from  the  place  of  Alde 
baran  in  1750,  that  in  the  year  3102,  this  star  was  13 
minutes  beyond  the  vernal  equinox,  a  result  differing 
only  53  minutes  from  the  Indian  zodiack.  But  the 
force  of  this  argument  does  not  terminate  here ;  even 
if  the  Brahmins  had  been  acquainted  with  the  ine 
quality  of  precession,  and  had  applied  it  to  the  mo 
dern  epoch  of  1491  B.  C. — the  3  seconds  of  excess 
which  they  gave  to  the  precession  itself,  would  have 
produced  an  errour  of  3"  x  3102  +  1491  =  5°,  49', 
39",  at  the  epoch  of  3102. 

The  mean  longitude  of  the  sun,  according  to  the 
Brahmins  at  the  epoch  of  the  tables  of  Tirvalore,  is 
10  S.  3°,  38',  13",  and  according  to  the  modern  ta 
bles  corrected  by  the  inequality  of  precession  disco 
vered  by  La  Grange,  and  amounting  in  the  present 
case  to  1°,  45',  22",  the  longitude  of  that  luminary  is 
10  S.  2°,  51',  19",  differing  only  about  47  minutes 
from  the  determination  of  the  Indians.  The  longi 
tude  of  the  moon  at  the  same  epoch  by  the  Tirva 
lore  tables,  is  10  S.  6°,  0' ;  and  the  same  computed 
from  the  tables  of  Mayer,  and  corrected  by  the 
moon's  acceleration,  is  10  S.  6°,  37',  a  coincidence 
so  remarkable  that  it  eould  arise  only  from  actual  ob 
servation.  Now  if  we  compute  the  places  of  the  sun 


194 

and  moon  at  the  commencement  of  the  Caly  Youg> 
from  the  tables  of  the  Greek  and  Arabian  astrono 
mers,  or  from  those  of  Ulugh-Beigh,  which  werfc 
constructed  at  Samarcand  in  1437;  we  shall  find,  that 
the  tables  of  Ptolomy  give  an  errour  of  llp  in  the 
place  of  the  sun  and  moon,  while  the  tables  of  the 
Tartar  prince  produce  an  errour  of  1°,  30',  in  the 
place  of  the  sun,  and  of  6°  in  that  of  the  moon. 
These  results  give  additional  strength  to  the  former 
argument,  and  completely  prove  that  the  Indian  astro 
nomy  is  not  the  offspring  of  Greece  or  Arabia,  and 
that  the  epochs  of  the  Tirvalore  tables  were  not  de 
duced  from  modern  observations.  Arguments  of  a 
similar  nature,  and  equally  strong  with  the  preceding, 
might  be  deduced  from  the  obliquity  of  the  ecliptick, 
the  length  of  the  solar  year,  the  aphelion  and  mean 
taotion  of  Jupiter,  and  the  mean  motion  of  Saturn, 
and  the  equation  of  his  centre,  as  contained  in  the 
Indian  tables  ; — for  this  information  we  must  refer 
our  readers  to  the  writings  of  Bailli  and  professor 
Playfair. 

From  the  general  view  which  we  have  now  given 
of  the  astronomy  of  the  ancients,  the  mind  is  neces 
sarily  led  to  the  conclusion  which  Bailli  has  drawn, 
that  the  rules  and  facts  of  the  Egyptian,  Chaldean> 
Indian,  and  Chinese  astronomy,  are  the  wrecks  of  a 
great  system  of  astronomical  science,  which  has  been 
carried  to  a  high  perfection  in -the  early  ages  of  the 
world. — After  those  mighty  revolutions  in  human 
affairs,  amid  which  the  principles  of  the  science  have 
been  Iqst,— -the  study  of  astronomy  seems  to  have 


195 

revived  about  the  year  3102,  when  the  loose  materi 
als  which  time  had  spared,  were  carefully  collected 
and  diffused  through  the  different  kingdoms  of  Asia. 
Hence  the  striking  connexion  that  subsists  between 
the  various  systems  which  prevailed  among  the  east 
ern  nations,  and  hence  the  numerous  fragments  of  the 
science  which  have  been  transmitted  to  the  present 
day. 

In  examining  these  wrecks  of  the  human  mind, 
we  every  where  find  methods  of  calculation  without 
the  principles  on  which  they  are  founded ; — rules 
blindly  followed,  without  being  understood ;— phe 
nomena  without  their  explanation,  and  elements  care 
fully  determined,  while  others  more  important,  and 
equally  obvious,  are  altogether  unknown.  We  can 
not,  therefore,  regard  these  unconnected  facts,  as  the 
highest  efforts  of  the  ancients  in  the  science  of  astro 
nomy,  or  as  results  which  they  have  reached  without 
the  light  of  theory,  or  without  the  aid  of  long  conti 
nued  observation.  When  the  traveller  contemplates 
the  remains  of  ancient  cities,  and  examines  the  bro 
ken  statues,  the  shafts,  and  capitals,  and  pediments, 
which  are  dug  from  their  ruins ;  does  he  consider 
these  fragments  as  the  highest  effort  of  the  sculptor, 
and  the  architect,  in  the  arts  which  they  cultivated  ? 
Does  he  not  rather  turn  in  imagination  to  the  co 
lumns,  and  statues,  which  the^  composed — to  the 
temple,  which  they  supported  or  adorned,  and  to  the 
living  being  swhich  worshipped  within  its  walls  ? 

Whatever  objections  may  be  urged  against  these 
opinions,  let  it  not  be  said  that  they  are  inconsistent 


196 

with  the  truths  of  revealed  religion.  The  sucred 
scriptures  are  not  to  be  affected  by  any  variations  in 
chronological  dates,  or  by  any  opinions,  however  ex 
travagant,  respecting  the  age  of  the  world ;  and  surely 
those  men  are  the  greatest  enemies  of  their  faith,  who 
fix  it  on  such  a  slender  basis.  It  is  as  foreign  from 
the  object  of  revelation  to  instruct  us  in  chronology 
and  astronomy,  as  it  is  from  that  of  science  to  teach 
us  how  we  should  act,  and  what  we  should  believe. 
The  speculations  of  philosophy,  will  not  be  confined 
within  the  limits  of  vulgar  theory,  nor  will  the  human 
mind  suffer  itself  to  be  chained  down  from  its  noble 
flight.  The  attempts  which  have  been  made  to  check 
its  progress,  are,  we  hope,  the  last  efforts  ef  expiring 
bigotry  ;  and  we  trust  the  hazardous  experiment  will 
never  be  repeated  among  a  civilized  people,  of  at 
tempting  to  raise  an  altar  to  their  God,  upon  the  ruins 
of  the  temple  of  science." 

The  foregoing  elegant  dissertation  has  been  extract 
ed  from  the  article  Astronomy,  of  the  Edinburgh 
Encyclopaedia,  and  appears  to  completely  establish  the 
epoch  of  the  Galy  Youg,  being  derived  from  actual 
observation  ;  the  limits  of  the  article,  prevent  the  de 
tail  of  the  other  proofs,  equally  strong  and  conclu 
sive.  The  inquisitive  reader,  however,  may  see  the 
arguments  of  professor  Playfair,  at  length,  in  the  se 
cond  volume  of  the  Edinburgh  Transactions. 

A  very  decided  opposition  to' this  epoch  of  the  Caly 
Youg,  has  arisen — with  some  persons  from  the  be 
lief,  that  it  opposes  the  Books  of  Moses.  This  ob- 


197 

jection,  though  hardly  deserving  consideration,  is  ea 
sily  shewn  to  be  very  futile. 

The  fact  is,  thac  the  whole  controversy  has  pro 
ceeded  from  the  defective  chronology,  which  the 
clergy  have  chose  to  support,  namely,  the  system  of 
Archbishop  Usher,  which  is  founded  on  the  Hebrew 
computation.  The  Septuagint  chronology,  support 
ed  by  so  many  arguments,  and  by  the  opinion  of  al 
most  every  antiquarian  and  historian  of  real  learning, 
solves  the  difficulty  completely. 

The  next  source  of  errour  is,  from  believing  and 
upholding  the  idea,  that  the  first  postdeluvian  ages 
were  ignorant  and  barbarous.  This  errour  we  hope 
we  have  demonstrated  in  Chap.  VII.  of  this  work. 

The  third  cause  of  errour  arises  from  not  consider- 
ing  the  very  great  effect,  that  the  confusion  of  speech, 
and  dispersion  from  Babel,  would  have  upon  man 
kind  ;  an  event  which  on  the  least  consideration, 
would  shew  the  reason  for  the  ignorance  and  barba 
rity,  which  the  first  postdeluvian  history  inform  us 
was  the  state  of  the  world. 

If  to  these  arguments  are  added  the  great  catas 
trophe  of  dividing  the  world,  and  the  formation  of 
islands,  the  imperfect  communications  between  na 
tions,  such  as  we  have  advanced  in  this  essay,  there 
cannot  be  a  single  circumstance  in  the  remarks  made 
by  Bailli  and  Playfair,  irreconcilable  to  the  Pente- 
teuch.  To  exhibit  this,  I  shall  add  the  following 
chronological  table. 


198 


CHRONOLOGY  OF  THE  SEPTUAGINT,  ACCORDING  TO  JACKSON- 


A.M. 

B.  C. 

2257 

3169 

2324 

3102 

2805 

2623 

3103 

2323 

3329 

2097 

Creation  of  Man. 
DELUGE. 
Era  of  the  Caly  Youg. 
Dispersion  from  BABEL. 
Division  of  the  Earth  in  Peleg's  days- 
Birth  of  Abraham,  &c.  &c. 


Among  other  objections  made  to  the  Caly  Youg. 
is  the  following  one,  used  by  Dr.  Marsden  and  Mr. 
Bentley  : — That  there  could  not  have  been,  at  the 
moment  indicated  by  the  tables  of  Tirvalore,  a  con 
junction  of  all  the  planets ;  for  there  was  no  less  than 
73°,  at  that  time,  between  the  places  of  Venus  and 
Mercury;  which  is  not  compensated  by  shewing, 
that  when  the  Sun  and  Moon  were  in  opposition,  15 
days  after,  all  the  planets  but  Venus,  being  compre 
hended  in  the  space  of  17°,  might  be  visible  :  this  ar 
gument  is  also  confirmed  by  La  Place.  The  learned 
Judge  Cooper,  in  his  Introductory  Lecture,  observes: 
that  the  expression  of  the  Tables  is  general ;  that 
there  was  a  conjunction  of  the  planets,  without  say 
ing  of  all  of  them. 

In  the  course  of  reading,  I  have  met  with  an  ex 
traordinary  narration  ;  which,  perhaps,  may  be  suffi 
cient  to  prove,  that  Venus  was 'in  conjunction,  at  the 
era  of  the  Caly  Youg.  No  collusion  can  be  sus 
pected  ;  and  the  tradition  most  exactly  explains  the 
difficulty. 


199 

"  Est  in  Marci  Varronis  libris,  quorum  inscriptio 
est,  De  gente  populi  Romani,  quod  cisdem  verbis, 
quibus  ibi  legitur,  and  hie  ponam  :  In  coelo,  inquit, 
mirabile  extitit  portentum  :  nam  in  Stella  Veneris  no- 
biiissima,  quam  Plautus  Vesperuginem  Homerus 
Hesperon  appellut,  pulcherrimam  dicens,  Castor  scri- 
bit  tantum  portentum  extitisse  ut  nuitaret  colorem, 
magnitudmem,  figuram  cur  sum ;  quod  factuni  ita  nc- 
que  antea,  neque  postea  sit.  Hoc  factum  Og}-ge 
rege  dicebant  Adrastus  Cyzicenus  &  Dion  Neapo- 
iites,  mathematici  nobiles. — (St.  Augustin,  Civit  : 
Dei.  Lib.  21.  cap.  viii. 

Mr.  Gibbon  remarks,  in  his  history  of  the  Decline 
and  Fall  of  the  Roman  Empire,  that  this  story  of  Ve 
nus,  changing  her  orbit,  is  erroneous;  and  that  a  co 
met,  moving  in  that  part  of  the  heavens,  has  mislead 
the  observer,  and  gave  rise  to  the  tradition,  that  the 
planet  Venus  had  exhibited  such  appearances ;  he 
was  convinced  of  this  by  the  arguments  of  M.  Freret, 
in  the  Me  moires  of  L'Acadamie  des  Inscriptions  ; 
which  I  suppose  is,  by  an  errour  of  the  printer,  in 
correctly  quoted,  as  I  could  not  find  the  communica 
tion;  hence,  I  am  unaware  of  the  arguments  that  may 
have  convinced  Mr.  Gibbon.  But  it  seems  very  ex 
traordinary,  how  any  one  could  mistake  a  comet  for 
the  planet  Venus,  the  most  remarkable  of  our  planets, 
and  utterly  unlike  a  comet.  Such  a  mistake  appears 
impossible.* 

*  If  etymology  be  allowed  as  argument,  we  may,  perhaps,  infer  the 
truth  of  St.  Augustine's  tradition  from  that  source.  According  to  Cos 
tard,  see  his  Astronomy,  196  :— •"  Aphrodite,  the  Greek  name  of  th,s 


200 

As  to  the  argument  that  such  a  phenomenon  is  ano 
malous,  it  may  be  doubted  whether  that  is  a  fact ; — 
We  know  that  fixed  stars  have  sometimes  shone  with 
extraordinary  lustre  for  many  months,  and  then  to 
have  disappeared  ;  such  as  the  one  in  Cassiopea,  in 
the  year  1572,  and  the  one  discovered  by  Kepler,  in 
Serpentarius,  in  1604.  A  considerable  number  of 
fixed  stars  have  disappeared  altogether.* 

Nor  is  our  own  solar  system  without  certain  histo 
ries  that  may  tend  to  countenance  this  phenomenon. 
The  history  of  Joshua,  and  the  dial  of  Ahaz,  are  fa 
miliar  to  every  one. 

The  theory  of  Dr.  Oelbers,  respecting  the  planets, 
between  Mars  and  Jupiter,  bears  every  appearance  of 
being  correct  and  true ;  and  is,  I  believe,  pretty  ge 
nerally  approved  of  by  astronomers.  All  these  cir 
cumstances,  taken  together,  certainly  shew  that  there 
is  nothing  improbable  in  the  tradition, — related  along 
with  the  names  of  mathematicians,  by  St.  Augustine. 

planet  Venus,  is  derived  from  the  Chaldeac  word  pharad,  separavit ;  dis- 
junxit ;  and  signifies  separata  in  general ;  whether  on  account  of  lustre, 
beauty,  or  any  thing  else" 

*Dr.  Herschel  enumerates  no  less  than  thirteen. 


201 


ON  THE  ANTIQUITIES  OF  THE  WESTERN  COUNTRY. 


JL  REVIOUS  to  closing  our  Essay,  it  appears  proper 
to  touch  upon  a  subject  of  some  interest,  which  dark 
ly  glimmers  amid  the  obscurity  of  those  ages,  which 
preceded  the  discovery  of  America  by  the  Europe* 
ans. 

There  exists  in  the  Western  States  of  the  Union, 
many  traces  of  a  people  imperfectly  civilized,  who 
have  been,  by  some  of  those  revolutions  to  which 
human  affairs  are  so  liable,  swept  from  the  stage, 
leaving  us  ignorant  of  their  misfortunes  and  name. 

The  monuments  and  remains  of  their  labours, 
which  have  resisted  the  hand  of  time,  are  chiefly 
found  in  the  great  valleys  along  the  Ohio  and  Mis 
sissippi,  in  one  of  the  most  beautiful  and  fertile  parts 
of  America. 

The  most  striking  of  these  antiquities  are,  the  py 
ramids,  the  fortifications,  and  the  mounds ;  which  we 
shall  briefly  describe,  and  proceed  to  examine  the 
question, — What  people  erected  them  ? 

The  most  accurate  and  interesting  account  of  the 
pyramids,  may  be  seen  in  Mr.  Brackenridge's  Views 
of  Louisiana  ; — from  which  I  have  extracted  the  fol 
lowing  recital. 


202 

"  I  crossed  the  Mississippi  at  St.  Louis,"  says  Mr. 
B.,  "  and  after  passing  through  the  wood  which  bor 
ders  the  river,  about  half  a  mile  in  breadth,  entered 
an  extensive  open  plain,  In  fifteen  minutes  I  found 
myself  in  the  midst  of  a  group  of  mounds,  mostly  of 
a  circular  shape,  and  at  a  distance  resembling  enor 
mous  haycocks,  scattered  through  a  meadow.  One 
of  the  largest,  which  I  ascended,  was  about  two  hun 
dred  paces  in  circumference  at  the  bottom,  the  form 
nearly  square,  though  it  had  evidently  undergone 
considerable  alteration  from  the  washing  of  the  rains ; 
the  top  was  level,  with  an  area  sufficient  to  contain 
several  hundred  men. 

From  the  top  of  this  mound  I  counted  twenty 
mounds  or  pyramids,  besides  a  great  number  of  small 
artificial  elevations  ;  these  mounds  form  something 
more  than  a  semicircle,  about  a  mile  in  extent;  its 
diameter  formed  by  the  river. 

Pursuing  my  walk  along  the  Cohokia,  I  passed 
eight  others,  in  the  distance  of  three  miles,  before  I 
arrived  at  the  principal  assemblage.  When  I  reached 
the  foot  of  the  largest  mound,  I  was  struck  with  the 
degree  of  astonishment  not  unlike  that  which  is  expe 
rienced  in  contemplating  the  Egyptian  pyramids;  and 
could  not  help  exclaiming,  what  a  stupendous  pile  of 
earth.  To  heap  up  such  a  mass  must  have  required 
years,  and  the  labours  of  thousands.  It  stands  im 
mediately  on  the  bank  of  the  Cohokia,  and  on  the 
side  next  it,  is  covered  with  lofty  trees.  Were  it  not 
for  the  regularity  and  design  which  it  manifests,  the 
circumstance  of  its  being  an  alluvial  ground,  and  the 


203 

other  mounds  scattered  around  it,  we  could  scarcely 
believe  it  the  work  of  human  hands,  in  a  country 
which  we  generally  believe  never  to  have  been  inha 
bited  by  any  but  a  few  lazy  Indians.  The  shape  is 
that  of  a  parallellogram,  standing  from  north  to  south; 
on  the  south  side,  there  is  a  broad  aprdn  or  step,  about 
half  way  down,  and  from  this  another  projection  into 
the  plain  about  fifteen  feet  wide,  which  was  probably 
intended  as  an  ascent  to  the  mound.  By  stepping 
round  the  base  I  computed  trie  circumference  to  be 
at  least  six  hundred  yards,  and  the  height  of  the 
mound  about  ninety  feet.  The  step  or  apron  has 
been  used  as  a  kitchen  garden  by  the  monks  of  La 
Trappe,  and  the  top  is  sowed  with  wheat.  Nearly 
west  is  one  of  smaller  size,  and  fifteen  others  scatter 
ed  through  the  plain — two  are  also  seen  on  the  blufts 
at  the  distance  of  three  miles.  Several  of  these 
mounds  are  almost  conical.  As  the  sward  had  been 
burnt,  the  earth  was  perfectly  naked,  and  I  could  trace 
with  ease  any  unevenness  of  surface,  so  as  to  disco 
ver  whether  it  was  artificial  or  accidental.  I  everv 

V 

where  observed  a  great  number  of  small  elevations 
of  earth,  to  the  height  of  a  few  feet,  at  regular  dis 
tances  from  each  other,  and  which  appeared  to  ob 
serve  some  order.  Near  them  I  also  observed  pieces 
of  flint  and  fragments  of  earthen  vessels. 

I  was  perfectly  satisfied,  that  here  once  existed  a 
city  similar  to  those  of  Mexico,  described  by  the  first 
conquerors.  Although  it  might  not  have  been  a  Li- 
copolis,  Persepolis,  or  Thebes,  it  is  not  improbable 
th;at  it  contained  manv  thousand  inhabitants.  This' 


204 

plain,  now  reposing  in  the  stillness  of  death,  was  once 
the  scene  of  a  busy  and  crouded  population  ;  those 
temples,  now  devoted  to  the  idolaters  of  silence,  once 
resounded  with  shouts  of  war  or  songs  of  peace. 
The  mounds,  were  sites  of  temples,  or  monuments  to 
the  great  men.  It  is  evident,  this  could  never  have 
been  the  work  of  thinly  scattered  tribes.  If  the  hu 
man  species  had  any  time  been  permitted  in  this 
country  to  have  increased  freely,  and  there  is  every 
probability  of  the  fact,  it  must,  as  in  Mexico,  have 
become  astonishingly  numerous.  The  same  space  of 
ground  would  have  sufficed  to  maintain  fifty  times 
the  number  of  the  present  inhabitants  with  ease  ; 
their  agriculture  having  no  other  object  than  mere 
sustenance.  Amongst  a  numerous  population,  the 
power  of  the  chief  must  necessarily  be  more  absolute ; 
and  where  there  are  no  laws,  degenerate  into  despot 
ism.  This  was  the  case  in  Mexico,  and  in  the  na 
tions  of  South  America  ;  a  great  number  of  individu 
als  were  at  the  disposal  of  the  chief,  who  treated  them 
little  better  than  slaves.  Hence,  there  would  not  be 
wanting  a  sufficient  number  of  hands  to  erect  mounds 
or  pyramids. 

Hunter  and  D unbar,  describe  a  mound  at  the  junc 
tion  of  the  Catahoula,  Washita  and  Tensa  rivers,  very 
similar  in  shape  to  the  large  one  on  the  Cohokia. 
This  I  have  also  visited.  It  has  a  step,  or  apron,  and 
is  surrounded  by  a  group  of  'ten  or  twelve  other 
mounds  of  a  smaller  size.  In  the  vicinity  of  New 
Madrid,  there  are  a  number.  One  on  the  bank  of  a 
lake,  is  at  least  four  hundred  yards  in  circumference, 


2'05 

and  surrounded  by  a  ditch  at  least  ten  feet  wide,  and 
at  present  five  feet  deep ;  it  is  about  forty  feet  in  height, 
and  level  on  the  top.  I  have  frequently  examined  the 
mounds  at  St.  Louis ;  they  are  situated  on  the  se 
cond  bank,  just  above  the  town,  and  disposed  in 
a  singular  manner ;  they  are  nine  in  all,  and  form 
three  sides  of  a  parallelogram  ;  the  open  side  towards 
the  country,  being  protected,  however,  by  three 
smaller  mounds,  placed  in  a  circular  manner.  The 
space  enclosed,  is  about  four  hundred  yarcL  in  length, 
and  two  hundred  in  breadth.  About  six  hundred 
yards  above,  there  is  a  single  mound,  with  a  broad 
stage,  on  the  river  side  ;  it  is  thirty  feet  in  height,  and 
one  hundred  and  fifty  in  length  ;  the  top  is  a  mere 
ridge,  of  five  or  six  feet  wide.  Below  the  first 
mounds,  there  is  a  curious  work  called  the  Falling 
Garden.  Advantage  is  taken  of  the  second  bank, 
nearly  fifty  feet  in  height  at  this  place,  and  three  re 
gular  stages  or  steps,  are  formed  by  earth  brought 
from  a  distance.  This  work  is  much  admired ;  it 
suggests  the  idea  of  a  place  of  assembly,  for  the  pur 
pose  of  counselling,  on  publick  occasions." — (See 
Brackenridges*  Views  of  Louisiana ^  173.^ 

The  Fortifications  are  extensive  lines  of  ramparts, 
generally  irregular ;  bending  in  various  directions, 
either  to  enclose  a  spring,  or  take  the  bend  of  a  river 
or  hill.  These  works  rarely  have  a  ditch,  and  there 
are  no  appearances  of  towers,  bastions,  or  glacis,  con- 


206 

necied  with  them.  In  some  instances,  these  works 
are  square,  or  circular,  and  very  regularly  laid  out.* 

Up  the  river  Miami  is  a  very  strong  fortification ; 
the  walls  of  which,  are  from  ten  and  twelve,  to  eigh 
teen  feet  in  height.  In  this  work,  are  many  salient 
and  re-entering  angles ;  the  area  of  the  whole  enclo 
sure  is  almost  one  hundred  acres.  From  this  work, 
runs  two  roads  or  elevations,  sixteen  feet  in  width, 
and  three  in  height ;  they  are  nearly  parallel  for  a 
quarter  of  a  mile,  when  they  diverge,  but  at  length 
unite  on  the  further  side  of  a  small  and  irregular 
mound. 

The  walls  of  these  fortifications  are  generally  made 
of  earth,  though  in  many  other  instances  they  are  con- 
structed  of  rough  stones,  put  together  without  mor 
tar.  In  some  instances,  this  kind  of  wall  have  ex 
tended  a  mile  and  a  half. — (See  Dr.  Drake^s  Pic- 
ture  of  Cincinnati.) 

Dr.  Drake  also  mentions  the  discovery  of  a  road, 
which  can  be  traced  for  two  miles.  This  road  is  at 
present  from  one  to  two  feet  high  ;  its  width  appears 
to  have  varied  from  twenty  to  thirty  feet;  its  surface 
is  convex.  In  several  places,  strata  of  limestone  and 
pebbles  have  been  discovered,  but  in  other  parts  it 
seems  to  be  composed  of  earth  only. 

We  are  now  to  speak  of  the  Barrows  or  Tumuli, 
which  are  only  mounds  on  a  small  scale.  I  agree 
with  Dr.  Drake  and  Mr.  Brackenridge,  that  these 

*  Baron  Humboldt  has  remarked,  that  the  fortifications  of  America, 
resemble  those  found  in  Eastern  Asia.  Similar  works  are  found  in 
Great  Britain,  and  are  evidently  of  great  antiquity. 


207 

erections  are  generally  the  burying  places  of  distin 
guished  men,  and  sometimes  of  families  ;  some  oth 
ers,  however,  such  as  the  one  described  by  Mr.  Jef 
ferson,  in  his  Notes  on  Virginia,  presents  the  appear 
ance  of  having  been  the  general  place  of  interment  to 
a  village. 

A  line  of  distinction  must  be  drawn  between  these 
barrows  or  tumuli,  and  the  pyramids,  and  fortifica 
tions  ;  for  whilst  the  latter  are  peculiar  to  one  dis 
trict  of  country,  the  tumuli  may  be  found  in  every 
other  part  of  America.* 

However  imperfect  and  unskilful  the  works  which 
we  have  just  described  may  appear,  they  still  are 
much  superiour  to  any  thing  which  we  know  the  In 
dians  around  to  have  ever  attempted ;  and  a  very 
slight  view  must  satisfy  us,  that  these  works  owe  their 
erection  to  the  combined  exertions  of  a  numerous  and 
organized  population  ;  a  state  of  society  altogether 
incompatible  with  the  habits  of  any  of  the  Indian  na 
tions,  with  whom  we  are  acquainted.  And  these  re 
mains,  found  only  in  one  district,  seems  to  point  them 
out  as  the  production  of  nation  or  people. 

*  And  in  fact  all  over  the  world.— The  mounds  on  the  plain  of  Troy 
are  of  this  kind.  They  are  also  found  in  Eastern  Asia — and  even  among- 
the  natives  of  Southern  Africa. 

Similar  mounds  are  common  in  Ireland,  see  Archaelogia,  vol.  xvi.  p. 
268 :  "  It  is  still  the  custom  there  with  the  natives,  in  passing  such  a 
place,  to  cast  thereon  a  stone,  to  increase  the  monumental  pile,  which  is 
obviously  the  remains  of  a  very  ancient  custom  ;  at  the  time  of  throw 
ing  this  stone,  the  pious  passenger,  bareheaded,  repeats  a  prayer  for  the 
repose  of  the  soul  of  the  dead." 

The  ceremonies  observed  by  the  Irish,  &c.  are  individually  the  same 
with  those  of  our  Indians- 


208 

On  digging  in  the  ground,  in  the  neighbourhood 
of  these  monuments,  are  found  pieces  of  pottery  of 
various  shapes  ;  this  species  of  manufacture  appears 
to  have  been  formed  out  of  pounded  shells  and  clay, 
and  then  subjected  to  a  strong  heat ;  but  there  are  no 
appearances  of  glazing  upon  any  of  these  vessels. 
The  Indians  around  are  unacquainted  with  this  ma 
nufacture,  though  Dr.  Drake  thinks  it  is  known  to 
some  of  the  Indians  of  Louisiana. 

But  a  decided  proof  of  civilization  superiour  to  our 
Indians,  may  be  derived  from  the  fact ;  that  among 
these  ruins,  are  found  pieces  of  copper,  beat  out  into 
thin  sheets,  and  cut  into  various  shapes;  copper 
beads  have  been  found — and  other  metaiick  figures, 
whose  use  and  purpose  seem  to  defy  conjecture.  Had 
any  of  our  Indians  possessed  the  art  of  rendering  cop- 
per  malleable,  it  can  hardly  be  supposed  that  they 
would  forget,  or  lay  aside  an  art,  which  rendered  their 
wars  or  hunting  so  efficient ;  for  the  tedious  prepara 
tion,  and  imperfect  substitution  of  flint.* 

*  Great  scepticism  should  be  entertained  respecting  newspaper  ac 
counts  of  antiquities  and  curiosities,  found  in  America.  1  have  seen  re 
lations  of  coins  having  been  found  in  Ohio,  engraved  with  unknown  cha 
racters,  and  yet  having  the  year  expressed  by  Arabian  figures. 

In  the  same  manner  much  curiosity  has  been  excited  by  the  discovery 
of  glass  beads,  in  certain  parts  of  the  United  States,  and  under  circum 
stances  which  almost  preclude  the  belief  of  their  being  European  manu 
factures.  Some  persons  have,  from  these  circumstances,  hastily  sup- 
posed  that  the  ancient  inhabitants  of  America  manufactured  glass.  But 
it  is  well  known  to  mineralogists,  thai  glass  is  a  natur.il  production, 
and  is  not  very  uncommon.  Obsidian,  on  volcanick  glass,  known  to  the 
Mexicans  by  the  nunie  of  Itzh,  was  much  used  by  several  American  na 
tions;  and  beads,  mirrors  and  bracelets,  formed  from  it.  Baron  Hum- 
boldt,  has  given  a  plate  of  some  Mexican  ornaments,  of  Obsidian. 
.  Chrystalized  quariz,  also  approaches  so  nearly  to  glass,  that  few  but 
mineralogists  could  distinguish  the  difference. 


209 

It  is  much  to  be  regretted,  that  so  little  exertion  has 
been  made  by  our  countrymen  to  investigate  these 
curious  antiquities.  The  few  specimens  that  are  seen, 
are  only  such  as  chance  and  accident  have  thrown  in 
the  way  ;  and  even  when  thus  brought  to  light,  the 
ignorance  or  carelessness  of  the  possessors,  either 
wantonly  destroy,  or  suffer  these  interesting  curiosi 
ties  to  be  lost. 

Rude  and  ungraceful  as  these  ruins  are,  they  ne 
vertheless  excite  our  sympathy,  and  that  concern 
which  arises  in  every  feeling  mind,  on  viewing  the 
overthrow  of  human  labours  or  institutions. 

When  we  contemplate  the  ruins  of  Ilium,  of  Car 
thage,  or  of  Palmyra,  amid  all  our  regret  and  concern 
for  their  fate,  yet  there  are  incidents  connected  with 
their  histories  which  we  reflect  on  with  enthusiasm. 
Though  they  have  fallen,  their  fame  yet  lives.  The 
genius  and  talents  of  antiquity  still  shine  with  origi 
nal  splendour,  and  the  triumph  of  time  and  desola 
tion,  over  the  labours  of  man,  is  incomplete. 

Nee,  si  quid  olim  lusit  Anacreon 
Delevit  setas.     Spiral  adhuc  amor, 

Vivuntque  commissi  calores 

CEolia  fidibus  puelloe. 

But  with  the  mounds  and  fortifications  of  Ameri 
ca,  we  have  no  agreeable,  no  inspiring  associations. 
We  see  "  The  bones  of  men  in  some  forgotten  battle 
slam," — we  see  the  labours  of  their  hands  desolated, 


210 

— their  rude  works  overgrown  by  the  trees  of  the  fo 
rest  ; — whilst  the  nation  that  raised  these  works,  to 
gether  with  her  patriots  and  her  heroes,  has  disappear 
ed,  and  has  not  left  even  a  name  behind.  And  the 
last  and  only  remembrance  of  them  which  has  reach 
ed  our  time,  has  been  only  preserved  by  a  recollec 
tion  of  their  ruin  and  extermination,  and  the  terrible 
effusion  of  their  blood. 

Until  very  lately,  it  was  believed,  that  the  Indians 
in  the  neighbourhood  of  these  remains,  were  entirely 
ignorant  of  the  erectors  of  these  works — and  which 
they  almost  universally  referred  to  an  age  anteriour 
to  their  earliest  traditions.  Fortunately,  however, 
some  gentlemen  of  curiosity  have  attended  to  this 
subject — scarcely  in  time ;  but  who  have  preserved 
some  traditions  which  throw  a  light  upon  the  dark 
inquiry; — and  by  means  of  which,  we  may  be  able 
to  pierce  the  mysteries  which  shroud  other,  and 
equally  interesting  subjects. 

These  important  traditions  have  been  extracted 
from  the  PORT  FOLIO,  of  Philadelphia;  and  were 
originally  taken  from  some  manuscripts  in  the  pos 
session  of  the  editor  of  that  periodical  work  ; — they 
are  as  follows : 

"  Mr.  Thomas  Bodely  was  informed  by  Indians  of 
different  tribes,  north  west  of  the  Ohio,  that  they  had 
understood  from  their  old  men,  and  that  it  had  been 
a  tradition  among  their  several' nations,  that  Ken 
tucky  had  been  settled  by  whites,  and  that  they  had 
been  exterminated  by  war.  They  were  of  opinion 
that  the  old  fortifications  now  to  be  seen  in  Kentucky 


211 

and  Ohio,  were  the  productions  of  those  white  inha 
bitants.  Wappockanita,  a  Shawnee  chief,  near  a  hun 
dred  and  twenty  years  old,  living  on  the  Anglase  ri 
ver,  confirmed  the  above  tradition. 

An  old  Indian,  in  conversation  with  Colonel  Jas. 
F.  Moore,  of  Kentucky,  informed  him,  that  the 
western  country,  and  particularly  Kentucky,  had 
once  been  inhabited  by  -white  people -,  but  that  they 
were  exterminated  by  the  Indians.  That  the  last 
battle  was  fought  at  the  Falls  of  Ohio,  and  that  the 
Indians  succeeded  in  driving  the  Aborigines  into  a 
small  island  (Sandy  Island,)  below  the  rapids,  where 
the  whole  of  them  were  cut  to  pieces. 

The  Indian  chief  called  Tobacco,  told  Gen.  Clark, 
of  Louisville,  that  the  battle  of  Sandy  Island,  decided 
finally  the  fall  of  Kentucky,  with  its  ancient  inhabit- 
ants.  Kentuckee,  in  the  Indian  language,  signifies 
the  River  vf  Blood.  tSancroft  Library 

Colonel  Joseph  Davis,  when  at  St.  Louis  in  1800, 
saw  the  remains  of  an  ancient  tribe  of  the  Sacs,  who 
expressed  some  astonishment  that  any  person  should 
live  in  Kentucky  ; — they  said  the  country  had  been 
the  scene  of  much  blood,  and  was  filled  with  the 
manes  of  its  butchered  inhabitants.  They  stated 
also,  that  the  people  who  inhabited  this  country  were 
whites,  and  possessed  such  arts  as  were  unknown  to 
the  Indians. 

Colonel  M'Kee,  who  commanded  on  the  Kenhawa 
when  Cornstalk  wras  inhumanly  murdered,  had  fre 
quent  conversation  with  that  chief,  respecting  the 
people  who  had  constructed  the  ancient  forts.  He 


212 

stated,  that  it  was  a  current  and  assured  tradition 
among  the  Indians,  that  Ohio  and  Kentucky  had 
been  once  settled  by  white  people  ;  who  were  pos 
sessed  of  arts  which  the  Indians  did  not  know,  and 
that  after  many  sanguinary  contests  they  were  exter 
minated. — (Port  Folio,  number  for  June,  1816.^ 

From  these  traditions,  and  from  the  testimony  of 
three  South  American  nations,  who  ascribe  their  ci 
vilization  and  religion  to  three  white  men,  whom  we 
shall  presently  notice,  it  appears  very  reasonable  to 
believe,  that  a  race  of  white  men,  imperfectly  civil 
ized,  were  the  centre  from  whence  the  civilization, 
observable  in  America,  has  emanated  ; — and  to  this 
population  must  we  refer  the  pyramids  and  fortifica 
tions  of  the  Western  country.* 

It  can  be  but  little  more  than  guess  work  to  state 
more  of  this  aboriginal  white  people — for  the  few 
scattered,  unconnected  facts  and  circumstances  that 
remain  concerning  them,  can  only  serve  to  give  a  to 
lerable  plausibility  to  what  we  will  say  on  this  sub 
ject. 

How  great,  or  how  extended  their  population  may 
have  been,  is  impossible  to  tell ; — perhaps  we  may 
with  safety  say,  that  their  influence  pervaded  all  that 
country  where  we  find  the  fortifications  and  pyra- 

*  We  have  already  shewn,  (in  page  52)  that  white  men  are  found  in 
several  parts  of  America,  who  have  never  had  any  connexion  with  Euro 
peans.  Bearded  men  may  be  seen  among  the  ancient  Mexican  figures 
and  hieroglyphicks— as  see  Humboldt's  Atlas  Pittoresque  Planches,  21, 
47,  and  4*. 


213 

rnids*,  and  which,  I  am  disposed  to  believe,  embrac 
ed  several  of  the  copper  coloured  tribes  also. 

A  cruel  and  bloody  war  appears  to  have  taken  place 
between  the  rude  and  barbarous  natives,  perhaps  un 
der  some  Attilla  or  Genseric,  and  their  more  refined 
and  civilized  neighbours,  which  ended  nearly  in  the 
total  destruction  of  the  latter.  The  few  that  survived 
this  catastrophe,  fled  their  country,  and  sought  happier 
and  more  peaceful  climes.  The  Toltecas  and  Mexi 
cans,  copper  coloured  people,  who  appear  to  owe  the 
knowledge  and  refinement  they  possessed  to  these 
aboriginal  whites,  avoided  a  cruel  fate  in  this  manner, 
though  they  appear  to  have  also  suffered  before  leav 
ing  their  original  country. 

The  arguments  supporting  the  opinion,  that  the 
Western  States  of  the  Union  were  the  original  coun 
tries  of  the  Mexicans  and  Toltecas,  may  perhaps  be 
plausibly  demonstrated  f,  and  under  the  peculiar  cir 
cumstances  of  the  bloody  war  which  we  have  just 
mentioned,  may  be  found  the  reasons  that  enforced 
their  migration. 

Referring  to  the  accounts  we  have  given  from  Cla- 
vigero,  of  the  arrival  and  history  of  the  Mexicans, 
&.c.  page  90,  we  will  find  these  nations  stating,  they 

*  I  am  not  able  to  state  the  exact  extent  of  country  over  which  these 
remains  are  found.  They  appear  from  a  short  distance  above  Pittsburgh 
to  some  heighth  up  the  Missouri,  but  are  found  especially  on  the  bor 
ders  of  the  Ohio  and  Mississippi ;  and  only  extend  a  few  miles,  perhaps 
not  more  than  30  or  40  from  their  banks. 

f  This  is  an  old  opinion,  and  has  been  supported  by  many  writers, 
Charles  Cullen,  Esq.  Translator  of  the  Abbe  Clavigero's  History  of  Mex 
ico,  is  the  first  one,  I  know  of,  who  published  the  opinion. 

28 


214 

were  forced  to  leave  their  original  country  Huehue- 
tapallan,  which  they  said  was  north  from  Mexico. 
They  do  not  state  why  they  were  forced,  or  on 
what  account ;  they  simply  say,  they  were  banished. 
It  must  strike  every  one  who  considers  this  subject, 
diat  the  cause  which  could  force  so  many  different 
tribes  or  people  from  their  native  country,  could  have 
been  nothing  of  a  very  common  kind ;  and  nothing 
that  I  can  see,  agrees  in  so  many  points  as  the  opinion 
we  have  just  given,  as  to  this  cause. 

It  can  be  also  shewn,  that  the  works  and  labours  of 
the  Mexicans,  bear  striking  analogies  to  the  ruins 
found  along  the  Mississippi  and  Ohio.  The  pyra 
mids  of  Anahuac,  and  temples  of  Mexico,  are  deci 
dedly  of  the  same  style,  design  and  arrangement,  with 
the  ancient  remains,*  The  Mexicans  also  raised  pla 
ces  of  defence  similar  to  the  ancient  fortifications ; 
this  may  be  seen  in  Clavigero,  ii.  389 ;  and  this  is 
also  evident  by  the  account  given  by  Cortez,  of  the 
conquest  of  Mexico. 

Clavigero  has  given  a  drawing  of  the  defence  to  the 
Tlascalan  territories,  not  materially  different  from  the 
figure  of  one  given  in  the  Columbian  Magazine,  iii. 
and  fig.  1st.  which  is  situated  on  the  Huron  river. 

From  some  human  bodies  found  in  the  western 
country,  there  appears  considerable  reason  to  think 
the  Mexicans  once  lived  there. 

These  bodies  were  found  in  a*  copperas  cave,  near 
the  Cany  Fork  of  Cumberland  river,  Ten.  See  Me- 

*  Compare  Mr.  Brackenridge's  narration,  page  203,  with  the  note  at 
the  foot  of  page  133, 


215 

dical  Repository,  vol.  iii.  Hcxacle,  iii.  p.  147.  One 
of  these  bodies  was  a  male,  the  other  a  female  ;  they 
were  buried  separately,  and  according  to  the  Medical 
Repository,  in  the  following  manner  :  The  male  had 
on  a  fine  linen  shirt;  and  then,  five  dressed  deer  skins 
were  closely  wrapped  around  the  body,  then  a  twilled 
blanket,  and  a  cane  mat  sixty  feet  long.  The  body 
of  the  female  lay  three  feet  from  the  male,  and  in  the 
same  position  ;  she  was  enveloped  in  two  undressed 
deer  skins,  under  which,  upon  the  face,  was  found  a 
small  cane  mat ;  then  four  dressed  deer  skins  were 
wrapped  around,  over  which  was  folded  a  cane  mat, 
long  enough  to  cover  the  whole  ;  then  were  five 
sheets  wrapped  round,  supposed  to  have  been  made 
of  nettle  lint,  wrought  very  curiously  along  the  edges 
with  feathers,  of  various  kinds  and  colours  ;  two  fea 
ther  fans  were  found  next,  upon  the  breast :  the  bo 
dy,  with  all  the  wrappings,  was  found  on  what  was  be 
lieved  to  be  a  hair  trunk  or  box,  with  a  cane  cover ; 
which  was  wound  up  in  two  well  dressed  deer  skins 
of  the  largest  size  ;  and  the  whole  girted  with  straps. 

This  account  is  very  loose  and  undeterminate ;  and 
the  language  of  the  gentleman  who  wrote  it  would 
lead  us  to  suppose,  that  the  fine  linen  shirt  and  twilled 
blanket  were  of  European  manufacture  ;  but  this  is 
not  the  case ;  what  is  called  a  shirt  is  only  something 
like  one,  and  so  also  the  twilled  blankets  are  totally 
dissimilar  to  any  thing  made  in  Europe  or  the  United 
States. 

This  correction  to  the  statement  given  in  the  Me 
dical  Repository,  I  am  entitled  to  do,  from  the  infor- 


216 

mation  given  me  by  a  gentleman  who  saw  the  bodies 
and  their  envelops,  &c.  and  who  deposited  an  arm 
and  specimens  of  the  mats,  feathers,  &c.  found  with 
them  in  Peale's  Museum,  Philadelphia,  where  I  have 
seen  them.  Another  important  circumstance  incor 
rectly  stated  in  the  Medical  Repository  is,  that  the 
legs  were  cut  off  and  laid  upon  the  belly  ;  the  fact  is, 
that  they  were  only  bent  up,  perhaps  not  more  than  is 
done  when  we  ourselves  sit  on  a  low  seat. 

The  manufactured  mats,  &c.  around  these  bodies, 
agree  very  well  with  those  of  the  Mexicans,  &c.  thus 
Clavigero :  "  The  Mexicans  made  of  cotton,  large 
webs,  as  delicate  and  fine  as  those  of  Holland  ;  they 
wove  these  cloths  with  different  figures  and  colours  ; 
they  interwove  feathers  with  cotton,  £cc.  ;  from  the 
leaves  of  two  species  of  plants  they  obtained  a  fine 
thread,  of  which  they  made  cloths  equal  to  those  made 
of  lint"  (flax.)— (See  Clavigero,  vol.  ii.  425  J 

By  this  extract,  it  appears  that  the  wrappings  found 
around  these  bodies  are  very  similar  to  the  manufac 
tures  of  the  Mexicans  and  other  nations  first  found  in 
Anahuac.  And  the  singular  flexure  of  the  knees  over 
the  belly,  may  be  owing  to  their  having  been  buried 
in  a  sitting  position,  which  was  a  Mexican  ceremony. 

The  feather  fans  were  a  badge  of  nobility  among 
the  people  of  Mexico  and  Anahuac  generally. 

In  a  work  entitled  Nature  and  Art,  edited  by  Dr. 
Mease,  of  Philadelphia,  is  a  circumstance  related 
which  perhaps  strengthens  this  opinion,  that  our  wes 
tern  country  was  once  the  seat  of  the  Mexicans,  Tol- 
tecas,  &c.  A  mound  in  or  near  the  town  of  Tom- 


217 

linson,  in  Ohio,  was  opened,  and  among  many  bones 
and  stone  tools,  was  found  a  kind  of  stone  signet,  of 
an  oval  shap~,  two  inches  in  length,  with  a  figure  in 
relievo  resembling  the  note  of  admiration,  (!)  sur 
rounded  by  two  raised  rims.  A  captain  Wilson,  who 
\vas  present,  observed  that  it  was  exactly  the  figure 
of  the  brand  with  which  the  Mexican  horses  were 
marked,  &c. — (See  Nature  and  Art ',  vol.  xw.  199.^ 

I  have  also  been  informed,  that  our  late  president, 
Jefferson,  has  in  his  possession  many  masks,  &c. 
made  of  baked  clay,  and  which  were  found  in  differ 
ent  parts  of  the  western  country.  This  circumstance 
also  coincides  with  the  habit  of  the  Mexicans ;  see 
our  notice  of  burial.  In  the  Archaslogia,  vol.  vi.  107, 
a  Mr.  Charles  Rogers,  mentions  a  great  number  of  si 
milar  masks  being  found  on  the  Musquito  shore.  He 
was  told  by  his  Indian  guides,  that  they  were  like 
nesses  of  chiefs, 

We  come  now  to  speak  of  those  three  extraordi 
nary  persons — Quetzalcoatl,  Inca-mancu  Capac,  and 
Bochica ; — men  who  appeared  on  a  sudden,  with 
white  skins,  long  beards,  and  flowing  garments, — 
From  what  has  been  already  said  of  the  ancient  white 
aborigines  of  America,  it  will  be  at  once  perceived, 
that  their  origin  may  be  very  reasonably  referred  to 
that  source ;  and  their  appearance  among  the  nations, 
may  be  described  to  the  ruin  of  their  country,  which 
forced  them  to  emigrate. 

It  was  between  the  years  544  and  648  of  our  era, 
that  the  Tokecs  emigrated  from  the  North,  and  arrived 
in  Anahuac.  During  this  time,  or  as  Baron  Hum- 


boldt  observes — perhaps  anteriour  to  that  age,  Quet- 
zalcoatl  made  his  appearance  ;  a  white  man,  bearded, 
and  accompanied  by  other  strangers,  who  wore  black 
garments,  in  the  form  of  cassocks.  He  came  a  kind 
of  missionary  and  lawgiver  to  the  Toltecas,  and 
greatly  civilized' them. 

It  appears  to  me,  that  there  are  two  personages 
blended  under  the.  name  of  Quetzalcoatl ;  one  may 
with  great  probability,  be  referred  to  the  god  of  that 
name,  who  we  have  described  in  page  120,  and 
whose  history  affords  strong  analogies  with  that  of  the 
Patriarch  Noah.  The  other  Quetzalcoatl,  was,  I 
think,  a  priest  from  the  white  Americans ;  and  who, 
perhaps,  was  a  priest  of  the  god  Quetzalcoatl ;  he 
appears  to  have  arrived  among  the  Toltecs  about  the 
times  we  have  stated.  In  a  like  manner,  is  the  god 
Wooden  or  Odin,  confounded  with  the  hero  or  priest 
Odin;  and  history,  in  other  places,  offers  analagous 
illustrations. 

Bochica,  who  appeared  to  the  Muyscas,  and  Mancu 
Capac,  the  first  Inca,  and  instructor  of  the  Peruvians, 
also  were  white,  and  bearded  men.  They  appeared 
on  a  sudden  to  these  South  American  people,  as  mi 
nisters  from  Heaven.  It  is  my  opinion,  that  these 
two  personages,  were  priests  of  the  white  Americans, 
who  were  fortunate  enough  to  escape  the  ruin  and  de 
solation  of  their  country,  and  to  reach  South  Ameri 
ca;  where,  by  superiour  knowledge,  and  usual  artifi 
ces,  they  acquired  an  influence  over  the  minds  of  the 


219 

Peruvians  and  Muyscas  ;  which,  perhaps,  was  bene 
ficial  to  those  nations.* 

I  do  not  know  how  far  we  ought  to  depend  upon 
the  traditionary  chronologies  which  are  given,  as  to 
the  appearance  of  these  lawgivers  of  America.  Ac 
cording  to  the  Mexicans,  Quetzalcoatl  appeared  to 
the  Toltecas,  either  about  the  five  hundred  and  forti 
eth  year  of  the  Christian  era,  or  in  the  ages  anteriour ; 
and  whilst  the  Mexicans  were  living  in  Huehuetapal- 
lan. 

There  are  no  particular  accounts  given  of  the  time 
Bochica  first  made  his  appearance  to  the  Muyscas. 

I  must  acknowledge,  previous  to  concluding  this 
inquiry,  that  I  am  not  satisfied  in  every  point  with  my 
conjectures  upon  these  American  antiquities.  Indeed, 
the  credulity  of  any  one  must  be  uncommonly  great, 
who  could  believe,  he  had  thoroughly  investigated  and 
explained  such  ancient  and  mysterious  difficulties. 
We  are  without  records,  or  traditions,  or  in  fact  any 
other  help  than  a  plausible  theory  ;  and  other  theories 
may  perhaps  explain  and  reconcile  the  difficulties  un 
der  which  the  subject  lies,  just  as  well ;  and  I  am  afraid, 

*  There  are  some  difficulties  involved  in  the  opinion,  that  Mancu  Ca- 
pac,  Quetzalcoatl,  and  Bochica,  were  of  the  same  nation  of  whites — as 
the  religions  and  policy  of  these  lawgivers,  were  different.  These  diffi 
culties,  however,  may  be  reconciled,  by  supposing  some  sectarian  dif 
ferences  to  have  existed  among  the  white  Americans  ;  which  may  have 
been  further  altered  by  the  crafty  policy  of  the  priests,  to  suit  the  ge 
nius  of  the  different  nations  they  afterwards  civilized. 

The  Seevites  and  Bhuddists  of  India,  offer  a  good  illustration  to  the 
sectarian  differences,  I  have  supposed  may  have  existed  among  the 
whites  of  America;  and  which  may  be  supposed  to  be  exemplified  by 
the  religions  of  Mexico  and  Peru. 


220 

that  all  the  light  which  will  be  ever  thrown  upon  the 
subject,  will  be  through  the  uncertain  medium  of  con 
jecture. 

I  am  induced  to  make  these  observations,  among 
many  other  reasons,  by  finding  that  Garcilazo  de  la 
Vega  relates — enormous  stone  buildings,  pyramids, 
and  gigantick  stone  statues,  are  found  on  the  frontiers 
of  Peru — whose  founders  or  builders  were  unknown. 
Perhaps  it  would  be  carrying  our  theory  too  far,  to 
attribute  these  last  works  to  the  ancient  whites  of 
America,  or  to  the  Toltecas  ;  all  that  can  be  said,  is, 
that  such  an  opinion  is  not  attended  with  impossible 
circumstances.  Time,  philosophical  research  and 
examination,  may  perhaps  give  us  a  knowledge  of 
these  remains  ;  but  at  present  we  must  be  silent,  and 
leave  them  in  almost  cimerian  darkness. 


FINIB, 


